


Bright Lights

by Xyanide



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: (absolutely not a healthy relationship in any way shape or form), Angst, Breeding, Captivity, Eventual Loki/Tony Stark, Forced Pregnancy, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M, Mpreg, Poor Loki, Rape, there is an actual plot in there i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2018-02-05 04:49:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 81,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1805905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyanide/pseuds/Xyanide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of leaving to Asgard with Thor, Loki is kept prisoner on Earth in SHIELD's care. The World Security Council decides they might make use of him by breeding him with the Hulk in hopes of creating a new type of super soldiers.</p><p>Tony is not really okay with this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [Bright Lights/亮光](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9250823) by [clairelight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clairelight/pseuds/clairelight)



> I actually dreamt this. **Twice.** So as weird as it might sound I just needed to write it down. Sorry Loki. :D  
>  The dreams happened about two weeks before the first Thor 2 trailer last year and I began writing them down then, it just took me this long to actually work up my courage to post what I have written so far.  
> This is my first attempt at mpreg, I've never been into that sort of thing but it obviously needed to be in this one. I had hoped for inspiration to begin writing again and this is what I got, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those of you who want to read specific things or know when to avoid them:  
> 1+3 hulk/loki non-con  
> 2 thor/loki non-con  
> 4 tony enters the story, so skip directly to that one if the above squicks you

His head felt like a mess. Like a dark deep swamp that he had to put forth all his effort to cross as it kept pulling him back in attempts to drown him. He could hear distant sounds around him, if he strained his ears it almost sounded like people talking, moving about. He continued to push through whatever they had done to his mind until he managed to slowly open an eye.

The world was blurry around him and he blinked slowly as he willed his mind to comprehend his surroundings. There were dark shadows moving about in a brightly lit room. He blinked again in attempts to make his eye focus. He could see a man, SHIELD agent no doubt despite the white overall he wore, standing nearby, arms crossed as he observed the proceedings. Loki felt a distant nip in his skin – it took him a while to figure out from where before he recognised the tender area as his right arm – and looked down towards it where he saw another man in a white overall put away a syringe only to bring forth another and inject him with it.

He frowned and looked up at their faces but all attempts at wanting to make threats died as he saw the gas masks they wore, as if there was something poisoneous in the air which made Loki forcefully start to sharpen his other senses in case of danger. He was a god and it would take a lot to kill him but it could happen and he had no doubts SHIELD wanted to test his limits.

There was something sweet in the air and the more he awakened the more prominent it got until it started to sting his nose. There was something about the scent that, even in his hazy state, urged him to want to get closer to it, to possess it and claim it, but yet there was something wrong about it and while he was attracted to it, his instincts told him he needed to get away. He let out a weak mumble of a groan as he realised the scent was coming from him. His tongue was thick and dry in his mouth and he tried to turn his head to look for an escape but his body was slow and sluggish, a deadweight prison to his panicking mind.

"Oh so you're awake already," he heard the SHIELD agent say and he looked back up on his masked face. "A lot sooner than we anticipated but just as well. We're almost ready to begin this anyway."

_'Begin what?'_ he was dying to ask but his dried throat only let out a muffled groan as he couldn't even open his mouth.

The man with the syringes moved to stand behind him and only now did Loki realise he was lain on his stomach on some sort of examination table. His arms were tied tightly behind his back, wrist to elbow so his fingers couldn't reach down to work himself free, and his legs were spread widely. The table was formed so his hips were raised and his legs went down into a kneeling position. The chill of the air on his skin told him he had been stripped naked.

He felt a hand on his ass, moving a cheek aside and then a gloved finger started pushing into him with a generous amount of lubrication to ease him up.

Loki let out a sharp indignant yell, how dared these mortals put their hands on him like this! He wanted to scream at them and wreak havoc, but his body remained where it was, accepting the intrusion, and his mouth still wouldn't form any words.

One finger after another entered him, stretched him out, moistening him up. And when the fingers weren't enough, something else was inserted to expand and open him up even further. Loki gritted his teeth to keep silent, his wordless yelling would only make him feel more shame at the situation than what he was already experiencing.

It seemed to have been going on for hours but his body still wouldn't react to his orders so he couldn't tell, but when he felt he had been stretched to his breaking point and then some for about three times, the man had deemed it enough and deflated the horrible contraption and removed it. Loki couldn't help the pained groan that escaped his lips. His body was covered in sweat and the sweet scent in the air had increased drastically.

The room started to clear out, armed SHIELD agents and scientists alike finished up their tasks and left through a door to his left where he couldn't see as he was still facing right. He could hear the sharp sound of a chemical shower just outside the door, to aid the men get rid of the strange scent that hung so heavy in this room. The agent that had spoken to him earlier remained for a little while longer. He leaned down closer to Loki so he would hear every word.

"You know, at first I thought this was too barbaric. I didn't even think it would be possible to pull off. With a _male_ , no less. But we've been assured that... _your kind_... the monstruous beings that you are, can do it. And while I still have my doubts that these plans will work, it's going to be interesting to watch. You deserve everything he will do to you for New York, whether he does what we've planned or not."

Loki narrowed his eyes and sent a heated hateful glare at the agent who chuckled as he leaned back and with a slap to Loki's rear, he walked away and the door shut behind him.

Loki's heart was beating fast as he glanced around the room, hoping to see something that he could use to escape but the room was bare save for him and the strange table he'd been laid upon. There were dark tinted windows near the high ceiling and he just knew that the men were up there watching him, watching everything that would happen to him.

There was complete silence for a long time save his own harsh breaths, then he could hear it. Somewhere that monster roared. Loki lost his breath as his eyes widened. Those stupid little mortals, were they actually... Did they really think...? With adrenaline pumping through his veins he renewed his efforts to control his own body. He could move a few of his fingers slightly and curl his toes but the roars of the beast were approaching too fast. A flick of his wrist but his fingers couldn't reach his binds. A glide of his foot but not enough to even close the gap between his legs. He curled his fingers into a fist, wishing desperately for a spark of magic despite knowing it'd been locked away.

Now he could hear the heavy footsteps of the beast as he came closer, lead to Loki by that damn scent that somehow emitted from him. It was undoubtedly SHIELD's work. A large door that he hadn't even noticed before opened almost soundlessly in front of him, showing a slightly darker corridor outside and then there was nothing to hold back the sounds of angry growls and footstep after footstep.

Loki's breath got caught in his throat as he saw him. The angry green beast locked eyes with him and roared as he jumped into the room to break him but then halted and sniffed the air. He growled and walked closer, all the while sniffing, then seemed to realise that the alluring scent he was following came from Loki. No smashing, then.

Loki stared with wide eyes as the beast made his new intentions clear. He would do as the scent wanted and claim and possess him. Loki started hyperventing and his heart almost felt like it was going to rip out of his chest it was beating so hard. He had never been more terrified in his life. Nothing that Thanos or the Other had done or threatened to do to him could compare to what would come. Those stupid mortals would have their revenge by letting their Hulk rape him to death. There was no magic to shapeshift into a creature that would accept something of Hulk's size. The beast would spear right through him, ripping him to pieces by his cock alone. What a way to kill off the god of mischief, he would have laughed if he just wasn't so damn scared.

Hulk walked around the table Loki was lain upon, all the while sniffing the air, then he came to a halt behind him, where Loki's legs were spread and he was so indignantly exposed. Hulk's large fingers stroked up his thighs and over his cheeks, pulling them aside to watch the glistening hole he'd come for. He growled low in his throat as he leaned down and licked over it, his large tongue wetting the entire back of Loki's thighs before he dived in again in some kind of attempt of readying his mate.

Loki didn't care who was watching or if they laughed at his misery, he pushed everything he had into trying to get away but his body wouldn't give in and all that he accomplished were frustrated tears running down his face.

Hulk had gotten the tip of his tongue inside him and pushed it in and out repeatedly to open him up, pausing to lick up his entire backside again before going back to work, prodding deeper and deeper with his tongue as if trying to get to the sweet smell like a bear trying to get the honey from a bee hive. Loki held back a disgusted moan as the large tongue started pressing against his prostate. He'd gotten some more control over the muscles in his legs and he made some, for his observers surely, weak attempts at kicking the beast off of him.

Hulk grunted as his mate started to shift around. He took a step back to rip off his pants and Loki tried to look back and throw him a heated glare.

"Don't you dare, you beast," he tried to say but his mouth wouldn't quite let through all the words.

Hulk didn't seem to listen to his attempts at speech anyway, he was too overpowered by the strong scent. He put a large hand over Loki's back and pressed down hard to keep him in place. Something wet rubbed against Loki's ass and thighs and he bit his lip to quiet a fearful whimper. When Svadilfari had mounted him he had been running free as a mare, he had tried to outrun the stallion but it had caught up and claimed him. With Hulk there were no options, his body wouldn't obey him, he could just lay there and take it without even being able to change his form to adapt to the intruder.

The tip of the penis was narrow and sharp like a dog's instead of round and blunt like a man's and it didn't take many tries before it entered him. Hulk pushed forward and Loki let out a angry pained howl. The green beast pulled back before pushing further in, over and over until the entire head and then some was inside. Loki felt like he was being ripped apart. He searched desperately for any uncaged remains of his magic to help him but it was as unresponsive to him now as when he'd first got bound.

Hulk seemed to know his tiny mate's limits so he kept back from his instincts to rut himself deeper. Beast he may be but he didn't want to destroy his mate. The force of his thrusts were not something he could control just as much; Loki's scent was driving him too mad with lust.

Loki's head was a chaotic mess of bright light of pain, he thought he could hear himself screaming but it felt too distant so he couldn't be sure. Hulk had incredible stamina and he kept up his punishing speed without any breaks or shifts. Loki figured he could probably go on like this for days and the thought almost made him laugh to keep from crying.

After what felt like hours the bright pain began to numb down. Loki's mind was clouding with darkness and he felt like he was about to pass out. That's when he felt the slight shift in Hulk. The thrusts became more erratic then slowed down, as if he tried desperately to keep from shoving all the way inside. Then Hulk roared and Loki felt himself get filled up.

Hulk kept thrusting slowly as he coated Loki's insides with his fluids, once he was full it started leaking out of him, running down his legs and the rest of the beast's length, and Hulk pulled out to squirt the last of it over Loki's back.

"Mine," he growled as he took a step back to observe his work.

Loki was panting heavily, the torture was over and he'd somehow survived it in one piece. The beast was too close for comfort and he cast a glance up at the tinted windows.

_'You got what you wanted, now get him out of here.'_

Hulk leaned over him to sniff the air and Loki closed his eyes and held his breath. The scent seemed to have worn off and Hulk didn't seem too pleased about it as he started growling menacingly. Loki tried to prepare himself for an attack and broken bones but then Hulk shot his head up as he caught whiff of something from the corridor. He made his way out and Loki took a shaky breath of relief as the beast left him. He couldn't sense what had lured Hulk away but he didn't particularly care at the moment. He was overfilled with warm fluids and he was in tremendous amounts of pain and he was quite sure he'd dislocated or maybe even broken his hips.

The large door closed and blended in so well to the surroundings as if it had never been there. Once everything about the Hulk had quietened down and it was deemed safe to enter the room, the SHIELD agents and scientists, now without the overalls, went back out. The agent from before gave a low whistle before he leaned down to Loki's face. His gas mask had been removed and Loki could see the large grin on the man's face. A quick glance at the man's ID badge provided a name; Tolly. He memorised the name and face, he'd hunt him down once he got free.

"Wow, he took a _real_ liking to you!" Tolly taunted softly as if for Loki's ears only. "And how he could make you scream, like music to my ears. You're not such a mighty and powerful god now, are you? You are nothing but the Hulk's little fucktoy."

Loki gritted his teeth and his gaze was flaring with hatred.

"I am going to rip your body apart, piece by piece," he promised in a raspy voice, his throat raw from all his screams. "I will break apart your ribs and use them to cut--"

His threats died down when one of the men in white coats came forward and put a syringe to his arm, making quick work of knocking him out.

 

***

Loki woke up five days later. Face down on the strangely shaped examination table, naked and being stretched open by SHIELD's scientists. That damn scent hung heavy in the air and he wished he could scream when the doors opened and Hulk once again came to mount him.

 

***

The same procedure happened twice more, then one day when Loki slowly opened his eyes, he found himself in a different situation. On his back on a soft surface. Not completely flat but in a slightly reclining position. Naked, but covered with a thin blanket. A thick leather belt was strapped over his torso to keep him from attempting to rise up. His arms were bound from his fingertips to just below his shoulders to the frames on either side of the bed. His legs were spread to be tied to the frames as well, from mid-thigh to his ankles, making him unable to close the gap between them. An IV was inserted into the back of his left hand and he could feel the fluids of whatever it was they were giving him rush through his bloodstream like an itch he was dying to scratch.

Something had been tightly placed around his neck, it hummed with energy and made him feel drained. He tried to reach out to it with his magic and it hummed louder before it zapped him, jolting him harshly before it went back to a more quiet hum. A collar to block his magic instead of the Aesir wrist binds from before. It was just as powerful, if not more so because it punished him if he tried to bypass it. He idly wondered if Thor had brought it back from Asgård, and if they had written _'Hulk's Pet'_ on it.

The room was still the same. He was at the center of it, in a bed heavily secured to the floor, bright lights hurting his eyes and dark tinted windows high above where agents and white coats observed every little thing. Behind him were machines of some sort, he couldn't see them but they gave a consistent beeping so he figured they kept track of his heart rate, which would explain the cold spots he felt on his chest underneath the blanket.

A small door opened and a white coat walked in, followed by a couple of armed guards. A woman this time, he observed. So far they had all been male. Brunette, unremarkable face. She walked over to him with self-assured steps, her heels clicking loudly in the quiet bare room. She looked over the papers in her hands before she checked the data on the screens behind him and added notes.

"You look well, considering," she stated.

"You sound disappointed. Were you hoping I'd be broken in pieces?" Loki replied, a dry bored tone to his scratchy voice.

"Personally, yes. But professionally, I do need you in one piece." She scribbled some more onto her papers then came over to stand in Loki's field of vision. Her ID badge revealed her name to be Bosworth. "The plan we had for you seems to have been successful so far."

"If you were planning to rape me into submission and repentance, I'm afraid you're going to have to try alot harder than that."

Bosworth's face scrunched up as if she had been insulted by those words.

"The _breeding sessions_ ," she corrected. "They're a success. You're with child."

Breeding sessions? With child? Loki frowned. How could that possibly happen? He hadn't been able to shapeshift into a female form, he shouldn't be able to get pregnant.

"You've given birth before, have you not?" she continued as she looked through her papers. "With a horse--"

"I was a _mare_ , you ignorant mortal!" Loki growled as he tried to lean forward as much as the binds let him. "I'm _male_!"

"We have a reliable source of information regarding your kind," Bosworth continued. "He told us what we needed to know in regards to you and accepted this to be your punishment; to let us use you as a breeder."

Loki froze in place. His eyes widened and he couldn't breathe. No. His brother could not have accepted this madness to be his fate.

"You lying little wench."

She looked up with big frightened eyes as Loki's entire being seemed to change. He was practically bursting with hate and anger. She took a step back, hoping the collar Stark had created would hold back his powers like the man had promised.

"You disgusting _human_! Thor would not leave me to _this_!" Loki roared the words at her and thrashed wildly in his bed, hoping to get free.

The collar sent one electric shock after another throughout him but he paid it no heed; he wanted to bathe in her blood.

"Calm down! Think of the baby!"

Her frantic words had the opposite effect and she held back a shocked cry as the bind around one of his arms began to give as he shouted one threat after another at her. She hurried forward to inject him with a syringe. Loki's struggles died down and he gave her a heated glare with promises of her painful death before everything went black.

 

***

He was kept on sedative drugs as much as they dared. They didn't know what effects it would have on the baby but they couldn't risk the god tearing the place down. Most of the time he was given enough to sleep for a week and that's when they did their tests and occassionally gave him a sponge bath.

When he was awake, staring unseeingly straight ahead, they observed from the safety of tinted windows.

His stomach grew bigger and bigger and finally he couldn't even deny it himself anymore.

What had Thor known about Jötnar that he himself hadn't known? How had he found out that male Jötnar could get pregnant? Loki wasn't even sure if there were female frost giants, he had never seen one when he thought about it, but then again he had only faced the warriors at Laufey's court.

Laufey. His father. A king of monsters that Loki had killed as a son of Odin, but it would seem he was just as much of a monster as the rest of them, no matter how much he tried to hide it by keeping his Aesir appearance.

 

***

He felt the baby kick. It had grown so big far too quickly and he felt like he was about to burst.

He wanted it dead.

 

***

Three months after the first kick it felt like the baby was trying to kill _him_. It twisted and kicked and wanted out and Loki had never felt more helpless. He couldn't give birth, he couldn't change his body to provide the things necessary and he feared the child would rip open its way right through him. He threw his head back and screamed in agony as a team of white coats ran around in frenzy as they tried to understand the situation; things were appearantly proceeding far quicker than with normal human children.

He caught sight of the brunette from so long ago and laughed madly at her.

"Thor didn't happen to tell you how I'm supposed to give birth with this body, did he?" he asked with a far too wide grin before the child caused him to let out another scream.

Bosworth looked at him and bit her lip in thought.

"C-section," she said then.

The team calmed down as it had been the obvious answer all along. Loki frowned and looked around as they gathered the tools needed.

"C-what?"

Even a Silvertongue could lose his words, it seemed.

"Caesarian operation, we're going to cut it out."

"I suggest you hurry before it does the job for you--" Loki started screaming again and writhed around as much as he could on the bed and ignoring the shocks from his collar; the pain was too intense as the monster child inside of him fought to get out.

Bosworth wanted him to suffer but she couldn't stand to lose their invaluable breeder this early on in the project and set to it. She gave him a sedative to numb the pain and calm his mind, then let the more experienced doctors get to it.

Loki was awake the whole time, staring with a horrified look down at his stomach when they cut it open and pulled that disgraceful monster out. It was a dark green thing, male, huge in size already and roared as it twisted around in the hands of the doctors. Loki wanted more than ever that it would destroy them all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brother dearest pays a visit.  
> Thor/Loki non-con.

It had been almost a month since the delivery. Loki had woken up in his bed, ready to face a new day of nothing when he sensed a familiar presence close by. He turned his head and stared with wide confused eyes as he saw Thor standing there, looking at him with a blank expression. Loki was at loss for words, he didn't know if he wanted to rip the god apart or beg him for help.

"Fancy meeting you here," he mumbled at last as he schooled his face to his usual cold indifference. Before Thor got the chance to answer, Loki continued. "While you're here, I believe I have the right to know what's being done to me. Since you've suddenly become an expert on Jötun anatomy I might as well hear it from you."

Thor looked away.

"Father and the World Security Council have decided it would be the best like this. For you to give back for all the lives you've taken, and for Midgård to become strong enough to withstand another attack."

Loki laid completely still. While he wanted to lash out and scream at the other god it would do him no good, he knew that for now it would be better to just be quiet and listen, to gain knowledge.

"I've seen him. He's mighty big and strong already, he's going to become a fine warrior to help protect this realm--"

"I don't want to hear about that," Loki interrupted quickly. He didn't want to know anything about that child. "I want answers and you need to stop delaying."

"There are male and female Jötnar," Thor began after a moment, as he tried to recollect everything Odin had told him. "But after a war ten thousand years ago too many of them were slain and to survive they had to adapt. There are a few numbers left of strictly male or female, the rest of them have both sets."

"And they get impregnated anally?" Loki cut in when Thor paused. "Those vile _monsters_ are even more foul than we'd ever believed!"

Thor looked at him grimly but for once wisely decided not to make a dumb unnecessary comment upon the fact that Loki was one of them.

"Yes, that's how they mate. They have a different way of giving birth which is why you couldn't do it in this shape of yours. Father didn't have this knowledge at the time he found you so that is why only your outward appearance changed to an Aesir male, but not fully through on the inside. And that is how you could still mate with Svadilfari; male shapeshifters cannot just create a functioning womb from nothing."

Loki gritted his teeth and breathed harshly through his flared nostrils. He should have known that. He always was confused as to how he had gotten Sleipnir but hadn't looked deeper into it. He had just classified it as a perfected shapeshift gone horribly wrong.

Now he knew what he was, how his monstrosity of a body worked.

"So is this it, then?" Loki asked, his voice cracking as he fought back angry tears. "You're going to leave me here with them? Let me get with child after child like a common broodmare until Ragnarök?"

Thor looked at him for a long moment, his face was still blank and it frustrated Loki to no ends how he couldn't read Thor like he always used to. Then Thor moved up towards the head of the bed to lower it down into a fully reclined position.

"You will be kept here for as long as the Allfather wishes it," he said finally. "Until he thinks you've paid your dues to Midgård, you will be used by SHIELD to help provide an army for Midgård's protection. Then I will bring you back home to face your crimes against Asgård and Jötunheim."

Thor still had a blank expression on his face as he took a few steps down the bed and let one of his hands trail up the length of Loki's inner thigh. Loki's eyes widened and he tried to get away but only recieved electric shocks for his efforts.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he sputtered as Thor removed his blanket, leaving him bare for all to see.

Thor remained quiet for some time as he stared at the not yet fully healed scar underneath Loki's stomach. He touched it carefully with his fingertips then went back to stroking Loki's legs as he unbound one in order to move it aside. The muscles cramped from months of disuse and Thor gently massaged them until they relaxed enough to let him reposition the freed leg.

"The Allfather requested something from me too," he said finally with a barely held back bitter tone, as if _he_ was the one to get punished for Loki's schemes. "He wants one of Royal Aesir blood to become the Captain of the army you'll provide, to ensure their loyalty to Asgård."

Loki was at a loss for words. He didn't - _couldn't_ \- quite comprehend the situation, the bizarre request Odin had demanded of his sons. His eyes widened with fear and horror as Thor settled himself inbetween his spread legs, Loki's freed leg pushed up over Thor's shoulder. Thor unfastened his trousers and took himself in his hand, stroking his length to get it hard.

Loki's leg was weak after he didn't even know how many months of lain immobile but he tried his best to kick out at Thor, hoping to strike his head with enough power to knock him out. Thor simply took a hold of his ankle to keep him still and Loki had never felt weaker or more helpless.

Thor reached up to the small tray behind Loki's bed to grab a tube of lubrication and squirted the liquid over his length as he kept stroking it. Loki hoped Thor wouldn't get hard but despite the situation, Thor's insistant tugging paid off and he started to swell up. Thor let go of himself and trailed a wet fingertip over Loki's hole, pressing down almost gently a few times as if to marvel how tight it would be despite everything before pushing in knuckle deep.

Loki gasped for breath as he shook his head. This wasn't happening. Thor wouldn't allow this, no matter what Odin might have demanded, the Thor he knew and grew up with would have never done this to him!

Thor added two more fingers as he stretched Loki open, then pulled out to stroke himself a few times again. He lined himself up and pushed in, slow and unrelenting until he was completely buried. Loki shut his eyes tightly and held his breath. He was still shaking his head in denial even though he felt Thor so deep inside of him. The god of thunder had stilled, his eyes closed as he had to take a moment to mourn the brotherly bond that was forever definitely severed.

"No, no, Thor, please don't...!" Loki pleaded silently.

He could take Hulk raping him, or any other that SHIELD deemed appropiate, but Thor... No, it was too much.

He wanted to push Thor back but his arms were securely tied, he couldn't even move his fingers. The leg over Thor's shoulder was just as useless with how tightly Thor held it in place as he started to move. He could just lay there and take it.

He thought of the day when he found out what he truly was, the things Odin had told him before falling into the Sleep. It seemed so long ago, so much had gone haywire since.

Loki started to laugh. A mad humourless laugh that made Thor falter his movements as he looked at him. Loki's eyes were shining with unshed tears as he grinned sharply at Thor.

"He told me why he took me from Jötunheim," Loki chuckled. "He had planned to unite our kingdoms through me. Tell me brother, do you think this is how he meant? For me to become your whore?"

"Cease your lies," Thor growled low in warning as he thrusted harder into Loki. "Do not speak ill of our father."

Loki burst out laughing as if it truly had been the funniest thing he had ever heard.

" _Our father_? The magnificent Odin Allfather who has forced his golden son to rape his _brother_ and get him with child? Oh yes my mistake, I must not speak ill of him--" Loki broke off with a loud pained groan as Thor's thrusts became harsher. He took a few gasps of breath before continuing, tears continuously running down his cheeks as he was unable to hold them back any longer. "Why don't you ask your father about this when you go back home? Ask him of what he told me and then see if I'm still the hopeless liar you think of me."

Thor placed his large hand over Loki's mouth to shut him up, pressing down hard enough against his nose to almost cut off his air supply as well, the force of his thrusts beyond ruthless. Loki laughed madly behind the large hand. He twisted his head aside to get free and taunt Thor.

"If I didn't know better I would have thought you were enjoying yourself immensely." He moved his head around to escape Thor's hand as he tried to get a new hold of him. "Tell me, dearest brother, was this a fantasy of yours? To have me tied up and completely at your mercy? Are you trying to tell yourself you're doing this only because of Odin's orders, not because of your own twisted desires?"

"Shut... up!" Thor growled and pounded harshly into him as he managed to cover Loki's mouth once again.

Loki kept the eyecontact, continuing to taunt him with his eyes alone. Thor gritted his teeth and leaned down to rest his forehead against a pale shoulder to escape those green eyes. He wanted to finish and get this over with but no matter how hard he pushed, no matter how _good_ it felt despite being so horribly wrong, he couldn't seem to climax. He could hear the muffled laughs which riled him up further. How could Loki laugh at a time like this? Didn't Loki realise how much this pained Thor to do? Before he knew it, he found himself biting down hard into Loki's shoulder, tasting his blood as he set a brutal punishing pace.

The laughter abruptly stopped to give way to pained groans and sobs and Thor bit down again and then a third time as he finally got near.

Loki shut his eyes tightly and shuddered with repulsion as he felt Thor fill him up. Thor stayed inside him long after he had completely emptied himself and had begun to soften, as if the longer he stayed inside the higher the chances would be of getting a child.

"Be sure you take this load because I do not wish to come back for this again," Thor growled as he released his hold over Loki's mouth and slowly pulled out of him.

He didn't look once at Loki's tear stained face or abused body as he fastened his trousers and left the room, leaving Loki shaking and hurt and so utterly alone.

 

***

One time was all it took. Loki had spent his moments awake with idly staring at his stomach as it slowly grew, but he found himself to be rather grateful whenever they pumped him full enough of meds to make him sleep for a week. It was almost blissful, he didn't have to think or remember and he didn't have dreams to plague him. He almost felt sad whenever he woke up, to face another day of nothing but an empty room with bright lights and the constant beepings of machines and a growing belly and tinted windows from where SHIELD were incessantly observing him.

 

***

It didn't hurt as much as the first time, maybe because he had been through it before or maybe because it wasn't the spawn of a raging monster. There were the constant kicks of something trying to get out but not finding a way. Bosworth and the other doctors were quicker and more efficient about it this time around as well when they drugged him and opened him up.

He was hoping Thor would get a dark-haired mischieveous little blue half-Jötun to call his firstborn, that would suit him right. Instead he watched with huge disappointment as the humans removed a fair-haired and pale pink child from him, followed by another. Twins. A boy and a girl.

He hated Thor more than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in my dreams Loki taunted Thor so much more and so perfectly in character and I remembered every single detail about it for long after, but when I finally got around to writing it down most of it disappeared. Quite sad, really. :(  
> (and when The Dark World was released and Thor covered Loki's mouth I almost died because it looked so much like it had in that dream!!! XD)
> 
> For those who are still unsure, Loki's insides are still Jötun but the outside is Aesir male so he can't give birth.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading and leaving kudos and commenting, you are wonderful!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hulk/Loki non-con.  
> Jump over to the next chapter if this isn't your cup of tea.

Loki had been kept in a drug-induced coma while his body recovered, a convenient state which SHIELD hadn't dared to use for any longer periods of time during the pregnancies. It could have lasted for weeks or months, he'd never know, but the drugs had started to wear off just in time for another breeding session. Just his luck, Loki thought bitterly once his mind had cleared enough to form somewhat coherent sentences. The humans wouldn't show him the mercy of still being kept unconscious during these moments.

A team of white coats with gas masks were readying his body for the upcoming abuse and as all the times before, Agent Tolly stood close by and kept an eye on the procedures.

The disgustingly sweet scent that eminated from him so strongly made him feel sick, if his body wasn't as good as paralyzed he would have thrown up. He was dizzy and ill and just wanted to go back to sleep. He would have swallowed the remains of his pride and begged them for it if he only could.

He felt them stretching him open again and again, greasing him up with generous amounts of lubrication as if that would somehow make things easier.

The white coats and agents started to clear out. Loki almost didn't dare to breathe. Minutes went by, then the large door opened and the unmistaken sounds of the beast got louder as he neared. Hulk entered the room and took a deep breath through his nose, letting the strong smell fill his senses and drive his instincts.

"Mine, my mate," he growled as he walked closer to Loki.

He bent down over him, his nose running along all over the other from his head down to his knees. He couldn't seem to stop smelling him.

"Been too long," Hulk continued as he began to nuzzle Loki's back with his nose in some bizarre display of affection.

A wet tongue covered Loki's shoulder blades then traced back down to the buttocks. Loki expected the horrid thing to get inside him and was throroughly confused when something hard and blunt pushed up inside him instead. Hulk moved his thick finger in and out, slowly and deeply.

"Mate wet and open, always," Hulk growled with excitement before his tongue joined the finger.

Loki let out a shout of disgust as he fought to overcome his immobilisiation and get away.

The finger increased its speed and Loki sobbed in frustration. Was the stupid beast really trying to tease him like a lover into wanting more? Hulk mistook Loki's sobs for interest and pulled out his finger to get more access with his tongue. It stabbed in deeply with rapid succession, then it stayed in as deep as it could go as Hulk twirled it around.

Loki could only manage to let out a horrified groan. He would be sick any moment now, as soon as his muscles would work he'd vomit whatever he could all over the stupid contraption he laid upon.

"Taste so good. Smell so good."

Loki was sure the Hulk would gobble him up.

Hulk tongued him another few times, then leaned back and got in position. The wet pointy end of the monstruous phallus entered him and the beast proceeded to instantly set up a brutal pace, as if readying his mate had taken away precious time from his own wants. Loki couldn't breathe. He wanted to scream out his pain, but the torture was too overwhelming.

Hulk seemed to lose what little control he had as he pushed in far deeper than any time before. Loki wished he'd just tear him up completely from the inside and render him useless to these experiments. Instead, Hulk pulled out slightly and stilled as he filled him up with warm fluids. He pulled out completely and squirted the last drops over Loki's back.

Loki panted hard. He was aching everywhere inside and out and he was fairly certain he'd pass out at any moment.

But the beast still lingered.

SHIELD had always managed to lure him away after the mating, with a scent that called to the brute to track down.

Why was he still here?

He looked up frantically at the tinted windows.

"Been so long," the beast repeated as he rubbed his still hard phallus over Loki's body. "Need again."

"No!" Loki yelled out and managed to twist his upper body slightly so he could properly look up towards the windows. "It's done, now get him out!!"

" _Mine._ "

Loki let out a shrill scream as the beast entered him again.

 

***

Loki groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. Some time during the abuse he must have blacked out. He was covered in sticky fluids, he could feel it dripping in a neverending stream out of him, down his legs. His whole body felt sore, he imagined it was covered in bruises inside and out. The growl of the beast told him the Hulk was still here and he became alert.

He could see him from the corner of his eye and he held his breath. Hulk scented something in the air that he wanted to follow but didn't want to leave Loki. Loki wondered if Hulk would just decide to grab him and take him with. Possibly break every single bone in his body while he was at it.

Finally the beast went to explore the source of the other scent. The door slowly closed when he was a good distance away, as to not distract him. Loki let out a grateful breath. He closed his eyes and felt his body slowly relax.

When it was deemed safe, the smaller doors opened to let the SHIELD team back in. Most of the white coats hurriedly went to gather up the fluids into containers while Bosworth checked Loki's vital signs.

It was the first time she'd appeared at a breeding session, Loki absentmindedly noticed. Atleast to his knowledge. She'd probably been up by the windows and watched the earlier ones at a safe distance, the sadistic wench.

"He's not in a critical condition," she stated. Loki wanted to strongly disagree. "We'll scan him in a moment to see if there's any internal damage done. This is getting too dangerous, the Hulk has become too unreliable."

"What do you suggest, Bosworth?" Tolly asked with a sigh as he leaned back against the wall. "To have Banner here, in our hands, and still not use him?"

"I want to keep using the Hulk as much as possible, you know that. And this was a dangerous uncertain experiment from the start, but Hulk has gotten too possessive. We could barely make him leave today! This has become too dangerous. He'll either try and take Loki with him, or he'll destroy us all trying. Perhaps both. We have gathered plenty enough semen for artificial insemination for years to come, but eventually we'll run out. I want to try with Blonsky."

Tolly made a slight choking noise before he chuckled.

"Blonsky? You think the Hulk is getting too dangerous so you want to bring in the _Abomination_?"

Bosworth raised her head and crossed her arms.

"He has no bonds to Loki, we'll get him to mate and then he's done. Just like the Hulk first did."

"And then what?" Tolly questioned. "A few fucks, then he'll start get possessive of his bitch too? We can always use our scents and wait for Banner to take over, but Blonsky _can't_."

He glanced over at the filled containers that were hurriedly taken away to be preserved.

"We have what, like possibly 40-50 soldiers from insemination alone. Minimum. When our resources have run out and we can't get to Banner anymore, _then_ we can think of Blonsky as an option. And by then we'll be retired so it won't even be our problem."

"Blonsky also has the advantage of the Super Soldier Serum," Bosworth continued. "His offspring could very well be stronger than the Hulk's."

"Perhaps. But let's just see how these ones will turn out first," Tolly dismissed.

Bosworth turned and walked away with loud clicks from her heels. Tolly walked closer to Loki and bent down by his face.

"For a moment there I was sure that beast really tried to get you off," he taunted with a disbelieving shake of his head. "Who would have thought the Hulk was so considerate of his bitch? Maybe some day he'll actually succeed, then you could start enjoying this too."

He grinned widely and took a step back to let a doctor get through with a sedative syringe.


	4. Chapter 4

Today would be yet another one of those 'staring into the wall or at his enormous belly' type of days again and Loki almost didn't even bother to open his eyes in hopes of just falling back asleep out of sheer boredom, but there was something off. At first he felt a chill of air on his body instead of the slight warmth of the blanket, then he could hear the quiet breaths of someone else.

He opened his eyes with slight surprise to see the Iron Man himself stand by his bed, faceplate up and watching Loki's stomach like it was the most absurd thing in all of the nine realms and beyond – which it most likely was.

"You too? I'm afraid you're going to have to wait for a little while, I'm quite full at the moment," he drawled lazily as he gazed upon his unexpected guest with tired, half-lidded eyes.

Tony looked uncomprehending for a moment before he caught up, his eyes widening in horror as he shook his head.

"Oh, I'm not here for that! SHIELD would only dream of being so lucky. I was just... going to check on the collar.. How is this even possible?"

"If you're here to check on the collar you're looking in the wrong place. Now may I have my blanket back."

"Oh, yeah, right. Blanket."

Tony moved to cover Loki with it but couldn't quite take his eyes off of the large belly.

"So _this_ is why they have you locked up in a secret lab for?"

"Don't act so dimwitted, Stark. It doesn't suit you."

"I just.. I..."

"The collar," Loki interrupted. "What about it?"

Knowledge first, shame later.

Tony glanced up at Loki's neck and put a self-satisfied grin on his face as he finally covered Loki's body with the blanket.

"It's mine," he stated proudly as he gestured towards it. Loki frowned but before he could even begin asking, Tony continued. "They asked me to create something that would hold back your magic like those big-ass Asgardian manacles you had at first only a lot more handier, and I figured a collar would look fetching on you. And I added some nifty things to get back at you if you tried to misbehave."

"Oh yes, I'm quite aware of that," Loki muttered, thinking of all the times the damned thing had given him electric shocks if he'd attempted to reach out for his magic or made too many sudden movements. "So very interesting."

He glanced up at the tinted windows. As much as he had hoped for something to break his boredom, a self-obsessed drunk really wasn't what he'd had in mind.

"I haven't been able to access it for some time," Tony mumbled thoughtfully and Loki looked back at him as he removed his suit's gauntlets and started fiddling with the collar. "I embedded a code into it so I could access it from my workshop for updates or in case things went awry with SHIELD but they must have found and dislocated it. I don't like it when people messes with my stuff..."

Tony kept glancing back at Loki's stomach and Loki almost rolled his eyes, knowing that questions would commence in five, four, three, two, one... Tony finally gave up his pretence of working on the collar and leaned up to gesture at the blanket-covered bump.

"No but seriously though, how the hell is _that_ even possible? What have SHIELD been up to?"

"I am the god of lies and mischief, why ask for truthful answers from me and not your Director Fury?" Loki answered dismissively.

"Because this is the first time I've seen a pregnant man and you're the only one here." Loki glanced back up at the windows and Tony followed his gaze for a moment before he looked back down. "Yeah they're not awake up there. They refused to let me in here so I kind of knocked them out before they called for backup and hacked into their mainframe and shut things down to keep others locked out. I made it look like the building have a power shortage and is running on its generator and therefor parts of it, including your cell, should be unaccessible and that's why there are no alarms or agents shooting my head off right now but I have a route ready in case they discover what's happening anyway. Had to see what was suddenly being so damn secretive about you that they wouldn't even tell me about it."

"Well now you know. If you want to make yourself useful while you're here, there's an itch on my left ankle I've been dying to scratch for the past month."

Tony looked at him for a moment, not quite believing this was the same crazy guy who had defenestrated him. Loki had been a strong and powerful god, now he was nothing but a extremely thin and harmless creature. And _pregnant_.

He moved down to touch the bony ankle and winced at the dark bruises and scars courtesy of the tight binds.

"Yes, right there," Loki hissed as he tried in vain to move his ankle closer to Tony's hand but only succeeded in making his toes curl. "It's been driving me insane."

"Can't have that again, can we," Tony mumbled as he scratched lightly at it, not wanting to touch the bruises more than necessary. "So yeah, listen. The pregnancy thing." This time Loki actually did roll his eyes which Tony would have found amusing if he just wasn't so god damn horrified. "Is it normal for Asgardians to do that? Like is that a thing, you guys getting knocked up?" Loki's cold stare shut him up for only a slight moment. "Did they rape you, Loki?"

Loki grinned sharply and let out a few huffed chuckles.

"You should hear yourself speak. For someone who claims himself a genius" -Tony acted as if he didn't notice how the word dripped with sarcasm and loathing- "you sure ask a lot of obtuse questions."

He would say nothing more on the matter, if the man wanted more information he could go elsewhere.

Tony stared at him for a long time while he thought of what to do. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck when he finally came to a decision. Pepper was going to kill him.

"I'm taking you out of here."

Loki's eyes grew almost comically wide.

"What are you--"

"I can't accept this. You're a crazy motherfucker who deserves to be locked up and punished, yes I get that, but rape and guys getting pregnant and... No, I can't stand for this. Screw Nicky, I'm taking you back."

"If this is what you mortals considers a jest--"

"No jest, princess. Don't try anything or I might drop you on the way."

Loki stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed as Iron Man removed the electrodes and IV drops and catheter then started undoing his binds, first the legs then his arms. It had been such a long time since he had been able to move his limbs freely and now when he could do so, his body was too weakened to do anything.

Tony quickly put his gauntlets back on in case he needed to defend himself but once he was certain that Loki wouldn't try to get into a fight, he helped him to sit up on the bed so he could wrap the blanket around him. He was slightly worried when Loki seemed to have problems with even sitting up straight without support, what the hell had Fury allowed SHIELD to do?

He helped Loki to wrap his skinny arms around his armour's thick neck and held an arm tightly under his knees as he lifted him up; the other arm around Loki's torso but ready to move and blast their way out if needed.

"Hold on tight," he said before he took off and flew out of the room that had held Loki prisoner for three years.

 

***

Loki had expected alarms blearing, guns firing or even Iron Man "accidentally" dropping him into the sea to let him drown, but everything was quiet as they flew out of the relatively small SHIELD facility in the middle of the city of Boston.

The man had proved his claims of genius by overriding the system in a way that even SHIELD themselves wouldn't be alerted to the prison break for hours to come.

Loki watched the world around him with growing anticipation as Tony took him further away from the city and the horrible memories he wanted to leave behind there. The wind was cold and harsh against his unprotected skin but the thrill of finally being outside again, to actually _feel_ the wind, made him ignore the chills and focus on keeping his weak arms around Iron Man. Part of him wished that he'd met Stark earlier, to have taken over his mind from the start, then everything would have ended differently.

He wasn't even aware of passing out, but when he next opened his eyes the landscape had changed from a major city to forests and farms. One of his arms had slipped down from behind Stark's neck to his chest and Loki made an effort to put it back up.

"Awake again?" Tony's voice sounded mechanic from behind his faceplate. "I'm gonna have to make a quick pit stop at my tower. SHIELD will find out that I broke you out and I'll need to get a few things from my workshop if they want to bitch about it, or, you know, send some of their assassins after us."

"First place they'll look," Loki mumbled sleepily. He needed to rest and gain back his strength for when they'd get hunted down. It would be a shame to lose Stark too early but if needed to, he'd run and hide. New York was a big city and he'd be sure to find ways to escape SHIELD and Heimdall's gaze and even remove that damn collar eventually.

"Loosen up my collar a bit and I can make you take your entire workshop with you in your pocket."

"Nice try princess, but that ain't gonna happen," Tony replied with a chuckle.

"Worth a shot."

"Of course it is."

Loki felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips.

 

***

 

Tony flew with an amazing speed but Loki managed to get another nap before they arrived to New York. Tony kept a high altitude to avoid having his cargo being spotted and once his tower was in sight, his grip around Loki tightened before he dived down to land on his penthouse balcony. Loki was unable to stand on his own legs and Tony, almost gently, helped him to sit down on the ground before he let his machines take his armour off.

Memories of their previous encounter here flashed in Loki's mind and he wanted to rage about how drastically things had changed for him but only managed a disapproving frown. Just like back then Stark had no qualms about removing his armour before him, only now there was no chance at all of Loki overpowering him and they both knew it.

"Welcome home, sir," a mechanical voice said. Loki could almost hear a questioning tone as if it wanted to ask something without actually asking.

"Hey Jarv. Status update of my roomies?"

"They are all out, sir."

"Perfect! Jarvis, lockdown my private floors. Secure the elevators and stairways, absolutely no one is permitted in or out until I say so. Better secure the balcony too. And all the windows, in case we get spiders climbing our walls. Don't put through any calls from SHIELD, tell them I'm in a business meeting. Warn me in good time if any of my roomies are near. Codeword Unstable Cargo."

"As you wish, sir."

Tony nodded to himself then reached down to help Loki up. Loki subconsciously wrapped the thin blanket tighter around himself. Tony pretended not to notice.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes, but not at the moment."

Loki didn't want to ask for help to get inside, if Stark was merciful he'd leave him here to get acquianted with his legs again while he went to his workshop but things had a way of not going as he pleased. Stark swooped him up in his arms – grunting with the effort of it as he wasn't as strong without his suit and Loki weighed a lot more than one would think – and carried him inside and put him down on the couch. Loki stretched out his legs and groaned slightly in appreciation of finally being able to move.

"I'd offer you a drink but it didn't end too well for me last time," Tony said as he went to the bar to get himself one or five. Possibly an entire bottle. "You have any other requests? I might heed them while things are gathered and the suit gets powered up."

"I would like a bath."

Tony observed him for a moment as he sipped his drink. Loki looked awful and with the things he'd gone through, of course he wanted to get clean. Tony himself had gone straight for the showers after his rescue in Afghanistan, so he wasn't overly surprised that a space viking would want it as well.

"I'm still not letting that collar off your neck," he stated as he made his way back to the couch. He tapped a few times on the device and let out a thoughtful hum. "It's waterproof and I can disable parts of it so you won't get zapped to death. Just play nice and no running off, okay?"

Loki didn't give any sort of answer but Tony didn't need one. He began working on the back of the collar to give a clear path for his programs to enter and modify the settings. It didn't take too long before Tony carried Loki into the bathroom, as much as Loki hated being handled like he was a helpless cripple he didn't have the strength to walk the distance, and his enormous stomach messed with his sense of balance as well.

Tony let him down to lean against the door frame while he prepared a bath. He glanced discreetly at the scars and bruises covering Loki's limbs before he thoughtfully added a soothing oil that Pepper loved to use after an especially difficult day. As the bath filled up he helped Loki to take his first awkward steps over the comfortably heated floor tiles. Loki didn't let go of the blanket until both feet were in the tub and he could slowly move to sit down in the water. The wonderful, amazing, blissful, cleansing water. He let out a content sigh as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Tony's eyes drifted back to the huge belly somewhat hidden beneath the surface of the water and he shifted uncomfortably on his feet before he took a few steps back towards the door.

"I'll get to.. yeah," he mumbled as he pointed out the door. "You need anything, just say and Jarvis will let me know." With that he turned and left.

Loki imagined he could almost feel all the dirt and grime and _other things_ leave his skin. He ran his hands over his arms and chest and thighs, but avoided the big bump attached to him. A hand came up to run through his hair, it had been cut and washed periodically while he'd been drugged asleep so it wasn't filled with lice, thank the Norns. He scrubbed his scalp and scooped up water to rinse, the water running into his eyes on its way down but he didn't mind. He couldn't ever recall a bath in his thousand years that had felt as magnificent as this one. He couldn't reach down to his calves and feet, but everywhere else he scrubbed himself raw until his energy ran out and his arms became dead weight. Then he leaned back and just breathed.

He was free. Sort of. He didn't need to get into technicalities just yet, but for the moment nothing but him and the bath existed.

 

***

Loki jolted awake as a sharp pain shook his body. His first thought was that Stark had reactivated the electric shocks on his collar but when his body convulsed again he realised it was the damn creature inside of him that caused it. A third convulsion brought him underwater as every single muscle in his body tensed and spasmed from the strain. He fought to reach up and gasp in a breath of air before his body went into another seizure. He thrashed in the water, swallowing mouthfuls in his panic and attempts of getting air.

Loki found himself longing for the drugs SHIELD had pumped into his system, his weakened body couldn't seem to take this amount of pain without it anymore. With an angry roar he managed to force his body into a sitting position and coughed like mad as the fits wore off. He was almost surprised that there weren't bits and pieces of his lungs floating around in the bath. In the back of his mind he knew there was something wrong, he just couldn't put his finger on what. He coughed some more to get more water out and then focused to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

He could hear someone come running towards him and suddenly Stark was in his line of vision, looking overly anxious.

"Hey, hey, don't drown yourself," he said in a surprisingly calm voice as he gently rubbed Loki's back, on a spot that hadn't been scrubbed raw or had bed sores. "You've got noseblood all over you."

Loki frowned and reached up with a hand to look for himself. The palm of his hand came off red and Loki hummed.

"Something's not quite right," he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"A lot of things about this situation aren't quite right," Tony pointed out helpfully.

He went to get a towel and helped Loki out of the bath. Loki's legs didn't want to cooperate much but atleast were strong enough for him to stand up and lean against the wall as Tony dried him off.

_'Like a thrall,'_ part of Loki's mind still considered, _'Stark would have made such a nice devoted thrall.'_

"I think you're having withdrawals," Tony explained as he wrapped the towel around Loki's body. At Loki's questioning glance he continued, "If SHIELD drugged you – which is a quite obvious conclusion that they did because you're fucking Loki and they need to control you somehow – your body have gotten used to getting a fix and when it doesn't get what it want, it starts craving it really badly, like a fuck loads, and when you quit cold turkey, because yes you are because I'm not seeking them out to bring their shit into my home thank you very much, your body has a bitch fit in order to get you to give it some more. It must have been some pretty heavy shit for you to react this strongly so soon."

Loki bit his lower lip. Stark had some valid points but he didn't quite sure feel like it was right. It had felt like it had begun in his stomach but he couldn't make the effort to delve deeper on it.

Tony went to grab a smaller towel which he soaked before carefully putting it by Loki's face. He dabbed at it a few times to get the blood off.

"The bleeding has stopped," he informed as he kept dabbing at the drying blood. "How's the..." Tony's eyes grew wide. "Shit, how's the- the..." His eyes focused on Loki's belly as he was unable to actually find the words of what was inside of it.

"I don't know," Loki answered dismissively, it wasn't a top priority for him to think about anyway. "I need to lay down."

"Yeah.. Yeah, of course."

_Such_ a good thrall.

Stark carried him to the bedroom and put him carefully on the bed and while Loki wanted him to leave so he could fall back asleep, he kept standing there, looking at his stomach. He always looked at his damn stomach.

"You'll stare a hole right through it, go away and get your things done," Loki dismissed.

"No."

Loki raised his eyebrows in bafflement. He'd gotten to like the idea of Stark being willing to do whatever Loki pleased so much, he'd almost forgotten that wasn't how it really was.

"You're gonna tell me everything about it," Tony demanded as he crossed his arms. "You're not in SHIELD's custody anymore but you're damn well still a prisoner. Speak up. How is the... the..."

"The _parasite_?" Loki snarled.

"That's one way to put it," Tony said, clearly uncomfortable with the subject but showing no signs of backing off. "You're having withdrawals and I need to know if it's okay in there."

"Why don't you reach in and see for yourself?"

"It sounds too messy, you just had a bath."

Loki closed his eyes in annoyance but didn't have the energy to argue any further.

"I think it's alright," he replied tightly. "If it's not, I'll tell you."

"Okay," was all Tony said and went over to the closet to grab some of his bigger clothes that might fit someone of Loki's height. "I'm gonna go get the last things packed in the car and then we'll be off. I've got houses all over the world so it's gonna take SHIELD some time to track us down. Put these on when you've rested, not sure they'll fit but we can get new ones whenever."

He put the items on the bed and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was just about to upload this yesterday when I realised I had written Stark instead of Tony. (only took me over eight months to notice..) Stark Stark Stark. It didn't quite look right so I had to change it to Tony but now it looks even weirder! I have the feeling I might accidentally start writing Stark again in future chapters. :L
> 
> edit; fixing things in the fic for the better including the stark/tony mess amongst other things. /february 2015


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **PLEASE!!!! Scroll down to the end of this chapter to read the trigger warnings, things won't be too nice and if you're very sensitive about certain things, please make sure you can handle this before reading!!!** Because if you can't it's better to skip this one and wait for the next!

Loki huffed out a breath and rubbed his tired eyes. He didn't want to think about the creature or how it was doing, but it was occupying space inside of him and he supposed it therefor was in his own best interest to try and give a damn.

"Hey you," he mumbled awkwardly. It was the first time he tried to pay actual attention to any of the creatures' condition and he wasn't quite sure how to go about it. SHIELD had their machines to keep track of everything but he didn't have that luxury. The expecting mothers of Asgård used to talk with their unborn so he figured it was worth a try, as strange as it seemed. "You in there, how are you feeling?"

Waiting. Silence. He wasn't sure of what he had expected, it wasn't like the thing could reply like a born person.

"You haven't kicked in a while and it'd be good to know if you still can." Nothing. He poked a finger into the skin of his belly, as if to rouse it. "Don't tell me you're so weak you couldn't even handle your host having a small fit. What kind of a super soldier are you?"

_'Yes, taunting an unborn child would surely work,'_ he thought sarcastically as he laid his palms over it.

It felt strange touching his stomach like that after so many years of being restrained. It looked bigger than it felt like. He could somewhat feel the creature inside of him through his skin, it was a wonder that the first one hadn't managed to rip him open considering how close it felt.

Something moved against his hand. Loki was creeped out.

"You're still there, you despicable thing," he hissed and removed his hands as the creature moved again and instead pushed up into a sitting position to get dressed, they needed to get away and not just sit around talking to fetuses like silly women.

He reached for the shirt just as the movements started to increase in strength. A powerful kick made Loki double over from the unexpected force of it and he gasped for breath. He laid down on his side on the bed while trying to wait it out but the pain only increased and Loki shook his head in disbelief.

"You're not actually planning on getting out of there _now_ , are you?!" he grunted through gritted teeth.

It felt like the thing was starting to claw its way out, but it must have been far too soon. He would have been under stricter surveillance with a team of doctors on standby if such was the case. Another immense wave of pain made Loki cry out and clutch his arms around his midsection as blood began to gush out from his nostrils.

It didn't take long before Tony came rushing in.

"Can't leave you alone for five minutes...!" the man attempted as a joke as he stood there, wanting to help but not sure how to go about it.

"It wants out! Get it out of me!"

Tony's eyes widened far too much as realisation set in. A loud yell of agony from Loki woke him from his stupor.

" _Holy fucking shit_ , I'm so not ready for this! What do I do? A doctor! We need to get a doctor here!! I can have Bruce over in thirty minutes, tops! He's not an actual real doctor but he knows these things but with women and holy fuck how is this even real?!"

Loki didn't listen to Tony's frantic ramblings but something in the back of his mind told him one part of it was important. Bruce. He felt like he should know that name.

Bruce. _Bruce Banner_.

Cold pure terror ran through him and distracted him from the agony enough to halt his cries. He surprised both himself and Tony when he began to laugh like a mad man.

"Bruce... the _beast_! Oh yes, Stark, bring him here and _show him_ what he's done!" His hysterical voice increased in volume and he let out a distraught scream as he pulled his legs up into a defensive posture. More blood spilled out of his nose, soaking the pillow beneath with red, as screams and crazed laughter filled the room.

Tony froze.

"Wait... What do you mean by that?"

He must have heard wrong. Loki couldn't possibly have insinuated what he thought he had, but there were only so many Bruces that could be called beasts.

"Loki," he tried again, with a loud and clear voice to get through to Loki's unstable mind. "What do you mean? What do you think Bruce did to you?"

Loki laughed harder than before with tears running down his face.

"What _didn't_ he do!" he finally responded harshly. "Don't let him near me, just _get that thing out of me!!_ "

Tony was absolutely dumbfounded. Bruce couldn't possibly have had any part of this. As an Avenger he had some dealings with SHIELD but he wouldn't ever be part of a project like this. Loki screamed again, more frenzied than any of the times before, and started clawing at his stomach as if he could rip it open and Tony shook his head quickly to get his mind back on what was happening before him.

"Push it out! That's how it's done, right? Just push!!"

"I _can't_ , you stupid mortal!" Loki raged, his face covered with sweat, tears and blood. "I can't give birth, you have to cut it out! Now!!"

Tony's head was overflowing with questions but they had to be saved for later. He grabbed a firm grip on Loki's shoulder and forced him back in an upright position on the bed.

"Loki, listen to me! I don't know how to do this! I have to get you a doctor."

"Give me a knife and I'll do it myself!"

"No! No pointy sharp toys for you! Let me get you a doctor."

Loki shook his head sharply then took several deep breaths. When he spoke he sounded oddly calm and collected, like an entirely different person than he was mere seconds ago.

"No, no more doctors. I'll guide you through it." He took several breaths to get himself under control. "You see that scar there?" He pointed to the area just beneath his stomach where Tony could see the horizontal scars. "Get a knife and cut it open, like they did. Not too deep, a bit at a time." He paused to catch his breath. "Grab it and take it out!"

Tony was immediately up and running to find what he needed, he spat out curses and wondered why the hell he didn't just call a real doctor.

The first thing he grabbed was a bottle of Natasha's vodka. Alcohol was always a good thing to have in emergencies. He put it to his lips and took a deep chug of it before rummaging through his kitchen for a first-aid kit and other useful items. He even found threads and needles and silently thanked Pepper for always being so efficient and ready for any case of emergency. He totally should have called Pepper.

He rushed back to the bedroom and almost tripped over his own feet when he came to a halt by the bed. Loki had brought his fist to his mouth and bit down hard on the knuckles to keep his sobs quiet as tears ran down his face. Tony had seen many strange things today, but seeing Loki broken down and crying like that was the most unnerving.

"I'm here, we'll get it out, you'll be fine," Tony repeated softly as a mantra, mostly to himself, as he set up the items nearby.

He poured vodka over the sharp cooking knife and his latex gloved hands and Loki's belly, then took another swallow for good measure before he put it down and got to work. He could do this. He had managed to create the most amazing things, from Jarvis to Jericho to even the fucking magic-constraining collar around Loki's neck. He could damn well help deliver a baby.

Loki bit down harder on his knuckles, drawing blood, and wished once again he was back at SHIELD's facilities with their amazing drugs. He almost felt like passing out and leave Stark to this on his own, but his vanity kept him awake. He needed to observe everything and not let the stupid mortal destroy his body completely. Loki wouldn't be able to fix whatever mess Stark would make until he got his magic back.

Tony took a deep breath before he stuck his hands inside of Loki – that certainly topped the list of things he had never expected to do – and moved them around inside an organ that really shouldn't be there. He wrapped his fingers around something huge and heavy and Tony wondered if he really should move it at all or maybe cut open a bigger hole, but as if Loki had read his mind he began to talk in a hushed tone.

"Take it out. Just grab it and pull it out."

Tony did as he was told. Loki had seen this being done to himself by the sound of it, so he probably knew the procedure.

And then there it was. He held it in his own hands. It was big and ugly and light green and covered in red fluids that he didn't particularly care to identify.

"Put it down somewhere and stitch me back up," Loki demanded softly.

"Not it," Tony mumbled as he looked at the thing. "She's a girl."

"I don't care. I'm cut open."

"Isn't she supposed to scream? Babies scream, don't they?" Tony looked up at Loki in alarm. "She's not breathing!"

"Stark..."

The human didn't listen. He checked the baby's airways but nothing was blocking it, he swatted the baby's bum as if that would get her to scream, he even breathed into her and gently coaxed her to get started.

"Stark!" Loki snapped at last. "Don't bother with it, it's dead. Put it aside and help me."

"But she needs help!"

Tony took a shocked step back when Loki threw his head back and let out an enraged yell.

"It's _dead_ , Stark! I felt it die! Put it down and finish the task!"

Tony looked down at the green girl in his hands. He didn't want to believe the god of lies, but he was right. The baby was dead and Tony couldn't revive her. With a slight nod he did as he was told. He emptied out everything that needed to be removed and stitched Loki back together with the needle and thread generously soaked with alcohol.

 

***

 

It wasn't the cleanest of operations or the best stitching, in fact Tony was sure a normal human being would die from one side effect or another, but Loki assured he'd be fine. The most urgent matter now was that SHIELD would have undoubtedly found out about their missing prisoner by now and Loki would probably not be able to move for the next couple of hours.

And then there was the matter of the dead green baby lain on the floor.

Loki and Tony watched it quietly, both lost in thought. Tony needed to come up with backup plans for when SHIELD showed up but he really needed answers to all the freaky shit he'd experienced throughout the day because his mind would implode from trying to wrap itself around it. And of course then there was the baby, they should probably bury it. A nice little grave with a small round stone and a flower on top.

"We need to burn it," Loki stated quietly. "It will start to smell soon."

He glanced at Stark from the corner of his eyes. The human had taken the creature's death oddly hard. With their short life spans one would think they should be more accustomed to deaths in all ages, but they still took it so hard when someone died. Even stillborn unwanted children.

"You know," Loki started, in a gentle tone. "It's for the best that it died." He held up his hand as Tony was about to argue. "It was female, do you not think they would have subjected it to the same treatment as myself?"

Tony held his gaze for a moment but said nothing. He knew what Loki had been put through. He didn't know the reason why but the god made a valid point. The girl would undoubtedly suffer the same fate if she'd been born in SHIELD custody.

But she hadn't. She'd been here, in Stark Tower; the Avengers' headquarters.

He must have done something wrong. Pulled her out to quickly, cut too deep, maybe it was the flight or even disconnecting the fluids that SHIELD had pumped into Loki's bloodstream...

"There's no need to dwell on what if's," Loki continued softly as if he had read Stark's mind. "There was nothing you did that caused its death and there was nothing you could have done to save its life. But atleast you saved it from a horrible fate."

"I need answers."

"So you've said."

"What did Bruce have to do with any of it?"

He had an idea but he really didn't want to be right. He wasn't even sure he wanted to hear the answer. He never should have asked.

"Look at it and tell me you still don't know."

Tony covered his face with his hands for a moment before he rubbed his face tiredly. He reached for the bottle of vodka and took a large swallow before handing it over to Loki, who took a smaller sip.

"What reasons did they have to do this?"

Loki was quiet for some time and Tony thought he wasn't going to answer at all.

"An army. To protect Midgård from outside threats. Like myself." He laughed quietly as he turned the bottle around in his hands. "Although what kind of easily controlled creatures they expected to get from the likes of us is anyone's guess."

He took another sip and handed the bottle back to Tony.

"How many did they manage to get?"

Loki turned his head to put Tony out of view completely.

"Like that one? One other." His left hand began to rub his right wrist, hard enough to surely leave new bruises on top of the existing ones. "Then there was a set of twins, sired by someone else."

Tony observed him quietly. He wanted to ask who the other person was but for once he had the decency to shut up instead of being an inconsiderate bastard. Loki's entire body language showed severe discomfort at the mere thought of the other man. Probably trauma. Not that the Hulk wouldn't be traumatic, but... Fuck. Tony took one gulp after another to try and drown those particular thoughts.

"Could you hand me the shirt, please?"

Tony coughed up some of the vodka he'd just swallowed. Loki had been completely naked all this time, somehow he'd forgotten about that. And with all these sort of questions, he supposed even a norse god would feel overly exposed like this.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

He fumbled to get the shirt and hand it to Loki without looking anywhere inappropiate. But in the end he was Tony Stark and he did sneak a peek.

Loki managed to sit up and get the black AC/DC t-shirt on without disrupting his stitches too badly. He moved his fingers gently across the gauze dressings topped with a pink band-aid, the wounds stung but would heal eventually; in months rather than days thanks to the collar. His magic was securely locked away but a tiny fraction of his self-healing was inbedded in his very being, it's what had surely kept him in one piece through the sessions and it would hopefully be enough to keep infections or even death at bay.

"We need to burn it, as soon as we're somewhere safe. They'll be here any moment," he said and reached out a hand towards Tony. "Trousers."

 

***

 

Tony carried Loki as they slowly made their way through Tony's private garage. They had just reached the inconspicuous black Mercedes where Tony had stashed all his makeshift travel bags when Jarvis made the dreaded announcement.

"Sir, SHIELD have attempted to access your floors."

"Shit, couldn't they have waited just another minute?!"

"SHIELD are attempting to override my protocols."

"In their fucking dreams, they are," Tony muttered in reply. "Double check the elevators and staircases, I want everything cleared and locked. Be on the lookout for sneaky Russian redheads. And make sure they believe we're still up there!"

He helped Loki get into the back before hurrying into the driver's seat. The engine revved up and Tony drove quickly to the exit.

"Is it clear?"

"No agents detected, sir."

Which didn't necessarily mean clear, but it was good enough. The gate opened and Tony drove out, quickly speeding away from the tower before trying to blend in with the thousands of other cars flooding the streets of New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Putting the trigger warnings here at the end to avoid spoilers for those who don't need it: bad delivery, stillborn baby, miscarriage. (Anything I missed?) In short, if you don't think you can handle this chapter, better not read it.** :(  
>  That scene was much more horrible in my dream, I had to tone it down quite a bit because I didn't want to write it like that.  
> And from here on out I'm on my own; there won't be anymore dream-bits to inspire me. Yikes!


	6. Chapter 6

SHIELD must have lost their touch. Tony doubted he would have even gotten out of the garage just a year ago – let alone the actual city – but here he was, driving at a remarkable speed on the highway out of New York City, with a megalomaniac deity sleeping on his backseat.

Hopefully sleeping and not actually dead.

Tony turned around to make sure; the Mercedes kept driving straight onwards out of sheer dumb luck. Seeing Loki's chest slightly rise and fall as he breathed calmed the man enough to turn back around just in time to keep from crashing into the car ahead. He quickly moved into the other lane and overtook it, all the while hearing Pepper's voice in his head berating him for driving drunk again and his own voice berating himself for not being anywhere near drunk enough.

This was insane.

SHIELD's freaky experiments, Loki getting continuously raped and knocked up, Tony breaking him out and even delivering the baby.

_Bruce's_ baby, if he were to believe Loki.

Fucking insane, the whole lot of it.

He kept glancing up in the rearview mirror, expecting the big black SUVs of doom to be hot on his trail. Or helicopters, or even the whole fucking helicarrier.

Thirty minutes passed. Forty. Sixty.

Yes, SHIELD had most definitely lost their touch. He was desperately tempted to give Fury a call and point out all the security flaws for their most dangerous out-of-this-world prisoner.

Tony took a deep breath and leaned back as he sped onwards.

He needed to figure out the whole mess with Bruce. Sweet, kind-hearted Bruce, Tony's science bro. He refused to believe he'd actually had any part in this, atleast not willingly, but if something had been done to him against his will Tony would have been the first to hear about it. He needed to focus and think, remember everything Bruce had done or said in the past years.

He had mentioned working with a SHIELD scientist some time ago.

Tony tensed up in his seat as he frantically tried to remember.

There had been a girl, a young British agent who had suggested trying a type of scent branding to help Bruce calm down in precarious situations. Bruce had been skeptic to it as anyone rightfully should be when it came to SHIELD, but he gave Tony all the information if something would happen to him. Bruce had called him directly after the first experiment, telling him the Other Guy felt calmer, and he would keep on with the experiment until he thought it would work when on a mission. He'd been travelling to the SHIELD facility in Boston regularly to keep working on it, even now because he didn't think it had been perfected.

Boston.

Bruce had been working on something in the very same location where SHIELD had hidden away Loki.

Fuck it.

Tony rubbed his eyes as he tried to accept the situation. He needed to call Bruce and discuss the shit out of this, but now now. Not today. He wouldn't be able to handle anything more today. He wiped away the tears that had managed to escape from his eyes before he gripped the steering wheel tight with both hands and upped the speed.

***

Four hours later, when the sun was setting and the first stars appeared, Loki finally came to. He groaned and clutched his agitated stomach as his body curled in slightly. It was strange to not feel the big heavy bump anymore. He made an effort to sit up, clenching his jaw to keep from making more sounds. His stomach hurt but he'd been through worse.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," Tony greeted with a glance in the rearview mirror. "Decided to finally keep me company?" When he didn't get any reply, he continued. "You had a small seizure about an hour ago. Nothing major like...before... You shook around a little and there was some tiny bit of nosebleeding. I was about to pull over but then it stopped and you kept on sleeping."

Loki frowned and scratched under his nose to remove the dried blood. He hummed and looked out the window but only spotted trees.

"Where are we headed?"

"I have a house outside of Chicago, for some unimaginable reason. We won't get there today though." Tony's eyes were sore and his head was a mess, there was no way he'd drive through the night. "We'll stop by a gas station soon and get something to eat. When was the last time you ate?"

"Years ago. Literally."

"Fucking... We'll get you some liquid stuff." Tony rummaged through the duffle bag on the passenger seat and held up a water bottle. "Drink. Slowly, I don't want you to get sick in my car."

Loki narrowed his eyes at the command but held his tongue. He quickly snatched the bottle out of Tony's hands before he would change his mind. He put it to his lips and took a few careful sips to sooth his dry throat.

The uncomfortable silence stretched on for only a few more minutes before they arrived at the gas station.

"I'll fill up the tank and go inside to get some food. You can stretch your legs if you want, but don't run off."

"You trust me out here on my own, Stark?" Loki asked with a too wide grin.

"Not at all, but it would suck to have to blast you so soon after that nerve-wracking surgery so please just spare me the effort." His hand went into the duffle bag again and he threw a piece of folded up cloth at Loki. "Scarf. Wrap that around your neck so the collar won't be seen if you get out, people talk and we don't need SHIELD picking up on that. And wash your face, you still have some blood on it. And a jacket," Tony said as an afterthought as he dug up said item from the bottom of the bag, "to cover your arms."

Tony got out to fill the tank. Loki waited until the man had gone inside the adjoining small shop before he awkwardly managed to get out, all the joints in his entire body were stiff from years of immobilisation and each movement brought up a flare of pain in his abdomen. He hissed as the skin stretched uncomfortably around the stitches, almost feeling like his guts would fall out at any moment.

He stood on shaky legs as he took deep breaths of the fresh evening air. The scent of the surrounding forest and distant sounds of bird chirps swept over him, making him feel somewhat at peace...until two voices nearby got louder as one got more desperate.

"But please, I forgot my wallet! Send me a bill, I'll pay!"

"Nah man, we've been ripped off too many times. Five hundred in cash or credit and we'll get it fixed up for you."

"The car itself isn't even worth five hundred! Please, my wife's having a baby! I need to go to her!"

"Ain't my problem. There's a bus station a few miles down from here."

One of the men left, leaving the other to pull at his hair in frustration as he kicked his car, then he noticed Loki and got closer.

"Hey! Excuse me, sir! Are you heading towards Winchester by any chance?"

"No."

"My wife's having a baby and my car blew a tire and I forgot my wallet in my hotel room because I was out on a business trip, and they won't repair it because they don't send bills, can you believe it? It's the 21st century and they can't send a bill! And I'm stuck out here when it's supposed to be the most important day of my life. I'm going to become a dad! Do you have any children?"

"A few here and there," Loki replied tightly but the man was oblivious to his discomfort.

"Me and Betty, we had everything planned," the man continued. "I was supposed to drive her to the hospital, be there and hold her hand, I'd be the one to cut the cord--"

"We can switch cars," Loki interrupted, mostly to shut the man up and make him go away. The man resembled an owl with his large eyes and tiny mouth. "Mine has just been refueled, you'll be there in no time. All I want is for you to move my things over to yours. I've just had surgery, I can't do it myself."

The man nodded his head eagerly.

"Of course...! Thank you! Thank you, most kindly!" He went to open the rear hatch when he stopped and whistled. "Are you sure, sir? It's an expensive car." He turned suddenly and narrowed his eyes at Loki. "Is it stolen?"

"Would you honestly care if it was?"

"Not right now, no."

"Then I don't see the problem."

The man nodded and got to work, he carried the bags and boxes as fast as he could to his own, a beige Ford that didn't seem to have a particularly long lifespan left. Loki observed the proceedings with a watchful eye, the man seemed honest enough but Loki didn't want things to suddenly go missing – especially not the cooling box. The man finished his task and let out a deep breath as he stretched out his back. Loki made a few last checks in the Mercedes before he handed it over.

"Thank you, sir! I really appreciate it!"

Loki watched him drive off then carefully walked the distance over to the Ford. He should be happy that he could manage to do that without holding on to something, but things weren't moving fast enough. He'd be reliant on Stark for quite some time if he couldn't get his strength back quicker.

"I got you some yoghurt and fruit, that should be--" Tony stopped and looked around. "Where's my car?!"

"Heading towards Winchester. I do hope it's not anywhere near Chicago."

Tony shook his head in disbelief.

"Don't tell me you traded my car for that piece of junk you're standing next to. Don't tell me it's the keys to said piece of junk that you're holding up in your hand. Don't--"

"It's broken and needs to be mended. Five hundred is the cost."

"Son of a..." Tony went to place the bags of food on the passenger seat before he rubbed his temples in annoyance. That's what he got for leaving the keys. "Well, we needed to change cars anyway. Alright, let's get this thing looked at."

***

Tony had paid the service man with no haggle, the less attention he brought to himself the better. The ride was stiff and uncomfortable but atleast SHIELD wouldn't be on the lookout for it. Tony only managed to drive it for another two hours before he pulled over onto a small road leading into the forest, leaving the the main road – if one could call it that – well out of sight. As they approached a tarn, Tony stopped and shut off the engine.

"We'll stay here for the night." He scratched the back of his head. "We should probably burn the... body now too."

Loki simply gave a short nod before making his way out of the car. His legs were still stiff and wobbly but he managed to move over to a heap of fallen branches without tumbling over. He went down on his knees and started sorting through the logs and twigs, picking out the ones that would burn the best and cradled the lighter ones to his chest, leaving the heavier for Stark. Getting back up on his feet and moving to an open space on the rocky ground near the tarn with an armful of wood proved to be trickier, but he gritted his teeth and managed to do it. Much too slowly for his liking, but still succeessfully.

He sat down on the ground as he started building a little pyre. Tony watched from a short distance, and when Loki seemed to have finished with his work, Tony went to grab the cooling box where he had placed the body. He carried the box over to where Loki sat and placed it next to him.

"Are you sure?" he had to ask. "We can bury her, you know. It's quite nice out here, I can dig a grave for her--"

"And let it rotten in the ground for worms and maggots to feast upon or have animals dig it up?" Loki interrupted with a slight sneer as he placed the baby on the small pyre. "No, I want to burn it. That is how we bury our dead in Asgård."

Tony took out his Zippo from his back pocket. He turned it over in his hands for a moment before he handed it to Loki, who ignited the flame before handing it back. The pyre was filled with dry grass and leafs and soon the fire started to build. Loki bit his lip in thought before he reached out a hand, his finger tips stroked gently over the girl's face as he whispered his farewell. When the fire began to devour her, he scooted back a short distance from the rocky ground until he sat on the grass. He raised his knees to rest his arms on them as he stared into the flames.

"The royal family and the mightiest of warriors gets the grandest of pyre funerals," he said quietly. "We put them on funeral ships set aflame and let them drift over the edge of the world. It's a beautiful sight. Commoners have to make due with simpler pyres like this but they can be built quite large and impressive as well. This is how we set their souls free, to let them move on to the next world."

Tony hadn't planned to stay and watch, but Loki's words were soothing and made everything feel peaceful instead of macabre. He sat down near Loki, not close enough to touch but enough to give his support if the other would need it. As much as Loki hadn't wanted the child, he still was her parent.

Memories of Loki crying flooded Tony's mind. When Tony had come back with the equipment he'd gathered to perform the c-section and found Loki crying on the bed. Loki had known at that point. Tony had thought he was crying from the pain, or from remembering how he'd been put in that situation in the first place, but now he realised that Loki had known that the girl was dead and he'd been devastated. As much as Loki wouldn't want to admit it, and even though he insisted on referring to her as an 'it' as if she was an object and not a person, he did mourn her. Him touching her face and saying goodbye had proved as much.

Tony took a risk of destroying the moment as he placed his hand on Loki's shoulder. Loki tensed up but didn't move away or bite it off. He glanced at Tony as if to read his intentions before he slowly relaxed and looked back at the pyre. Tony left his hand there for as long as he dared and then some, before he wrapped his arms around his legs. He stayed until the fire started to ebb away, then he stood up.

"I'm going back to the car. You're coming when this is over."

"If you wouldn't mind," Loki began as he turned his head to get eye contact. "I would like to spend the night out here." When he felt Tony might argue, he continued. "I've spent years in that room. Would you really have me beg?"

Tony raised his eyebrows and cocked his head. Having Loki beg him for things did sound quite tempting, but even Tony Stark knew the limits, it would seem.

"No running off," he said simply and headed back.

Loki watched him go for a moment before turning back to the pyre. He watched as it died down, leaving nothing but a rubble of burned remains. The dark sky above was filled with twinkling stars and he laid back on the ground to watch them. The bedsores on his back stung but he ignored it in favour of the feel of nature. His fingers drifted through the grass and dug loosely into the soft ground. He toed off his shoes to do the same with his bare feet.

He closed his eyes for a moment and let the sounds and smells of nature invade his senses. It was strange how little one appreciated such things until they'd been taken away.

"Are you watching me?" The words were barely even a whisper as he spoke them, while at the same time hoping he wouldn't be heard. "Have you seen what your wise King has allowed them to do? What your _Golden Prince_ did? I hope you saw everything."

He smiled ruefully at himself. Heimdall hadn't heard him, he probably wasn't even watching him, or else he would've already opened the Bifrost and let Odin's minions come down to drag him back to that dreadful room.

His body shook as he started sobbing, he placed a hand over his eyes as they spilled over, he tried to hold back but then let it go, all the memories and pain washed over him and he let himself cry. He laughed quietly at himself for a moment as he wept; he really _was_ broken. The humans of Midgård had managed something that not even Thanos and the Chitauri had succeeded with, for all of their inventive ways of torture. Years of isolation and forced breeding had been the way to do it. 

***

Tony draped himself over the backseat with a heavy sigh. He rubbed his face with both hands before fishing out his phone from his back pocket. Signal was low but existent. He glanced at the surprisingly large number of missed calls and unread messages – all from the one person who knew the number to this spare phone. Tentavily he pressed the dial up button and waited for the other person to answer.

"Tony, what the hell were you thinking?!"

"Hello Pepper, good evening to you too. Or is it morning yet? I'm really not quite sure."

"Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm..." Tony took a breath and shook his head. "I'm in the forest somewhere. Camping out. Who would have thought?"

"Fury contacted me when they found out what you did. SHIELD have taken over Stark Tower and he's gathering the Avengers to track you down and I've been trying to get a hold of you for hours and only _now_ you're getting back to me? What were you thinking? Oh god, Tony... there was so much blood all over the bed and I thought he'd sliced you open! Did he hurt you?"

"Calm down Pep, please. It's not my blood. I... I really don't know where to start. Things have been pretty fucked up today. If you had seen what I've seen...you would have made the same call Pepper, I promise you."

"I wouldn't have broken Loki out from prison," Pepper stated coldly. "He's killed thousands of people. He killed Phil."

" _I've_ killed thousands of people, Pep!" he reminded her. "I've designed all these weapons, one bigger and badder after another, and I didn't give a shit who they were used on. I'm not excusing Loki for what he did, but... They did some fucking freaky shit to him that shouldn't be done to _anyone_." Tony rubbed his eyes. "I can't even begin to tell you Pepper, it's all just too fucked up, I haven't even wrapped my head around it just yet and I was there."

Pepper was quiet for some time. Tony anxiously bit his lip while waiting for her to speak.

"Is he with you now?"

"Sort of, he's sleeping out under the stars tonight. I'm in the car. Well, I think it barely qualifies as a car, it has four wheels and an engine but it's a pile of shit. He's not going to run away if that's what you're worried about."

"What makes you so sure?"

"He can barely move, for one. And I've got a tracker on him in case hell freezes over and he actually would be able to crawl away from me. That's how I found him. I thought SHIELD had disconnected the tracking device along with some of the other stuff on the collar but it was still there, it just didn't give any readings until I was close enough because he was so far underground. I've updated it to a stronger version. Anywhere he tries to hide, I'll find him. He doesn't know that, of course."

"What concerns me the most is that he might try and kill you in your sleep."

Tony huffed out a breathy laugh. "That won't happen anytime soon. I'm all that stands in the way between him and SHIELD, he can't protect himself for shit right now and he knows it."

Both were silent for a while, Pepper needed to take in all the information and Tony just needed to breathe; the Ford suddenly felt too hot and constricting and the air much too stuffy. He hoped he wasn't on the verge of having a panic attack. He hadn't had one for some time and it would really suck to have it on the phone with Pepper.

"Pepper, when the time comes, when I'm able to actually say what the fuck I've witnessed today, I'll let you know. I can't do it right now. I don't think I even fully believe it myself."

"Tony, listen carefully. You had PTSD for years after New York. I don't think it's safe for you to be around the man who caused it. You haven't fully recovered from those events yet, and I fear this might trigger everything to resurface, all the nightmares--"

"I'm not the only one here who's traumatised," Tony interrupted. "SHIELD messed him up so bad. He doesn't wanna show it, he might not even know it himself, but he's fucking terrified."

"Which makes him even more dangerous."

"Most likely yes, but handing him back to SHIELD is definitely not an option. I'm going to have to work something out. Maybe try and catch a hold of Thor when he gets back here, he wouldn't have allowed this shit to happen to his brother. Until then, we'll have to stay out of SHIELD's radar."

"Atleast tell me where you're headed, so I'll know where to start looking for your corpse if I won't hear from you again."

"Always so efficient, that's what I like about you," Tony said with a fond smile. "Chicago for now, then I'm thinking either Atlanta or Portland. Taking him on a American roadtrip with my amazing self might do wonders for him. I think SHIELD's covering all my more convenient places. Why do I even have all these houses, I'm not actually ever there, I just dug up a list of places I own. Jarvis is covering the information on some of them so it's gonna take SHIELD some time to find them all. If they ask, you can tell them we're on our way to Singapore; appearantly I have a ridiculously expensive villa in Bukit Timah. I don't even remember ever being in Singapore."

"Take care of yourself, Tony."

"Don't I always?"

"No."

"Huh, oh well I'll try. Oh, and Pep? Please don't tell Bruce where I am. I can't talk to him, not right now. Don't tell him I said that."

He could almost hear her frown, but she didn't ask for more details for which he was grateful. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Tony sat up properly to catch a glimpse of Loki through the side window. Loki seemed to be sleeping soundly and Tony laid back on the seat, hoping to catch some shut-eye as well before his thoughts drove him insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caught up with all the finished chapters, updates might be slower now. :(  
> THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has commented and left kudos!!!! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Tony honestly hadn't been all that surprised in the morning when Loki wasn't anywhere in sight. Tracking down wayward gods wasn't the most appealing way to start of the day when he hadn't even had a cup of coffee. He grunted as he made his way out of the car, his back was killing him, then proceeded to head towards the nearest tree. He unzipped and began to relieve himself when he heard some rustling noises on the other side of the tree. Tony leaned sideways to take a look – hey, it could have been a bear – and watched Loki slowly walk up towards him.

"Where have you been?" Tony asked in a gruffier tone than he'd probably intended.

Part of him felt that a decent human being probably should try and cover himself up, with Loki being a rape victim and all, but he _was_ relieving himself and if Loki didn't care to watch, he shouldn't come to stand practically next to him.

"I was taking a piss," Loki replied with a raised eyebrow and a glance down Tony's body. "Did you wish to cross streams?"

"Well we'll certainly have plenty enough of time for fun things like that in the near future, that's for sure," Tony said with a crooked smile. "How's the stitches?"

"Itching."

"Still don't want a doctor to take a look at it?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "When I'm dying from an infection, I might reconsider," he stated as he continued to the Ford.

Tony finished up and tucked himself in as he looked around. There was no sign of the pyre, for which he was pleased because he really wasn't feeling up to the task of getting rid of the remains. He zipped his jeans and walked back to the car.

Loki was sitting in the backseat and nibbled on a pear. Tony kept sneaking glances in the rearview mirror as they drove; it was still a bit strange for him to see Loki almost act like a normal person instead of a power-hungry would-be world conqueror. He supposed he should be glad; it would've been hell to try and live with the latter for an undefined amount of time.

 

***

Five hours later – and with far too many breaks because the damn Ford was hell bent on destroying Tony's back – they'd arrived at the house. It was a comfortable medium sized wooden construction in well-secluded location, surrounded by forests instead of nosy neighbours. The garden was immaculate and Tony made a mental note to ask Pepper to cancel all the hired help, if she hadn't done so already which was most likely the case anyway because she always seemed to be five steps ahead. He carried in all the bags then went through the place, checked the inventory and electricity and turned on the fridge and water.

"I'm going on a food run," he announced as he went back to the front door where Loki had only just managed to enter. "And gonna get myself a new car while I still have a functional spine. I put the med kit in the bathroom for you. Make yourself at home. And no--"

"No running off, yes I know," Loki finished.

Tony smiled broadly as he went down to the car. "I was going to say no scratching the furniture but that's good too."

Loki bit his lip in worry as he watched him drive off. He felt anxious about being left alone and it unnerved him; he hadn't ever needed to rely on another person before. If SHIELD or the Aesir would come for him now he'd have no means to defend himself or hide, and no Iron Man to help him. He shook his head to clear it. He was being ridiculous; Stark would be back soon enough and there wasn't any need for him to feel uneasy.

He stumbled into the bathroom and leaned heavily onto the sink as he took several deep calming breaths. He slowly glanced up into the mirror and for the first time in years took a look at himself.

His face was sunken in, making his sharp features stand out even more, and his skin was almost sickly pale. His hair almost reached his shoulders and despite the bath yesterday, it was already greasy and parts of it had clotted together with dried noseblood.

And then there was the collar. It had been stuck to him for so many years but it still was a surprise to actually see it. It was of a despicable hot rod colour just like the Iron Man suit and had the logo of Stark Industries imprinted across it, as if to remind SHIELD in every way that it could who had created it for them. It certainly showed him who he _belonged_ to. The thing looked every bit as horrid as it felt.

He sneered and reached up to run his fingers along it, trying to find any weak points to pry it off. A sharp pain jolted through him and he almost fell to the floor from the force of it, but managed to grab a hold onto the sink again at the last moment.

Trying to get rid of it himself would be useless, he would sooner get zapped unconscious than break free. He would have to keep playing nice with Stark, get the man to trust or like him enough to remove it himself. Act sweeter and weaker than he really was. He smiled gloomily, he could swallow what was left of his pride long enough to pull through with this. He would win Stark's confidence. Loki gave a last hateful glance at the collar, then proceeded to wash up and redress his wounds.

About an hour later he heard the front door open. Loki held his breath and tried to keep from shaking as he strained to pick up more sounds. Someone was moving around in the house.

"Got you some more yoghurt and fruit," Stark called out as he put the groceries in the fridge and Loki let out a shaky breath as he leaned his forehead against the mirror in relief while he berated himself for his reaction.

He waited for his racing heart to calm down then washed his face with cold water as he composed himself. He inhaled deeply before he left the bathroom.

Tony had ventured out to the patio where he slumped onto the couch to devour his cheeseburgers. Loki watched him for a moment by the door before he sat down at the other end of the couch.

"When you can eat real food again you have got to try these," Tony said with his mouth full. "Try the fries."

Loki took one, gladly indulging himself with the oily salty fat of it. He would like nothing more than to throw himself over anything edible but knew better than to shock his system with such things. He was quite proud of himself for his self-restraint. He put another fry in his mouth to keep from snagging one of the burgers and held back a sigh at the thought of eating yoghurt and fruits for the next few days – another two fries later and he already felt full.

"So I was thinking, now is as good as any to make plans," Tony continued as he drank his coffee. "You're supposed to be a prisoner here on Earth but I'm not trusting any government on this entire planet to take over you which basically means you can't stay, so I'm thinking we'll get a hold of your brother and he can--"

"No."

Tony thought he saw a quick look of fear in Loki's eyes before Loki looked away to grab another fry to nibble on.

"No?" Tony repeated dumbly. Loki couldn't still be mad at Thor for what had transpired between them all those years ago, could he? But who was he kidding, it was _Loki_. "Okay, so no Thor. How about other Asgardians? That rainbow fella, what's his face, Hemdum, Heim--"

Tony let out a muffled shout as Loki quickly jumped over to him and covered his mouth, Loki's face only an inch from his own as he stared into those crazed green eyes. _'Not scarily intensive blue,'_ his mind randomly informed.

" _Don't_ say that name!" Loki hissed frantically as he lifted his gaze to stare at the sky behind Tony's head as if expecting to see the Bifrost appear. "He hasn't sent anyone after us yet, I don't think he's watching us and I don't want him to turn his gaze here because you mentioned his name. He always used to tell me he could hear the grass grow."

Tony quirked an eyebrow. Loki didn't make any sense what so ever. He tried to tell him that but it only came out as wordless mumbles as Loki still pressed his hand tightly over his mouth. Until his mouth was freed he would just have to settle with watching a feral Loki in extreme close-up as he leaned over him and pressed Tony further back into the armrest of the couch. He didn't mind too much, it was an oddly fascinating sight – especially because this time the crazy son of a bitch wasn't focused on him and he most certainly wouldn't be thrown out of any windows.

Once Loki seemed certain that there wouldn't come a rainbow to whisk him away, he removed the hand but didn't back off.

"How can he hear the grass grow, it takes ages to do so. He doesn't really do a lot up there, does he?"

Loki looked back down at him.

"It was his way of telling me he could hear every whispered secret. That's what drove me to find ways to hide from his view. I can't block ourselves from his eyes and ears with _this_ ," Loki sneered as he pointed towards the collar, being careful not to touch it in case he'd get another shock. The look in Loki's eyes went from wild to pleading and his voice softened to a gentle tone as he continued. "If you were to disconnect it for just one mere second, it would be enough for me to heal myself and hide us from both SHIELD and the Gatekeeper."

"That does sound really useful, but no."

Loki held his eyes for a moment before he moved away to sit back at the other end of the couch.

"I can't go back to Asgård," Loki offered the information quietly as he roughly scratched the bruises covering his right arm. "When Odin feels I've paid my dues to Midgård, Jötunheim is next. He's going to sentence me to the same thing there, I know it. I'm going to be bred by disgusting frost giants."

Loki could barely finish the sentence before he started hyperventilating and Tony was about to panic. He really couldn't handle this whole rape/breeding/ _giants_ thing. He sat up to reach over and place a hand on Loki's back, rubbing it in small circles.

"Hey, hey, breathe. Take deep breaths. There you go."

It took him several minutes, but eventually he managed to coax Loki into calming down. Tony really had no idea what he had gotten himself in to. He was the most arrogant self-obsessed bastard he knew, and here he was like some sort of a therapist for a crazy god.

Loki had his eyes tightly shut. He had intended to act nice and weak for Stark, but the sheer amount of raw panic had overwhelmed him. He really had been broken, to the point where he almost couldn't recognise himself anymore. He desperately needed something to distract himself with.

"How's your back?"

Tony raised an eyebrow but went along with the obvious topic change. Discussions on Loki's future could be had some other day, for both their sakes. Preferably when Tony was completely shit-faced.

"I think it's about to break. There was absolutely no suspension what so ever in that car, man I'm feeling like I'm sixty already."

"Turn around."

Tony narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Loki sighed.

"I am not going to stab you in the back with a fry. You can't protect me from SHIELD if you can't move, now turn around."

Tony hesitantly turned. Loki moved to sit directly behind him. He lifted his hands and let them hang in the air for only a moment before he placed them on Tony's back and began his massage. Tony couldn't help but to let out an appreciative moan as the kinks and knots were worked out. Loki's hands went along Tony's spine and eased up every little bit of tension caused by the hellride.

Loki bit his lip as he thought of what to do. He couldn't access any passageways as long as he was collared, but once it was off he would escape to Vanaheim or Alfheim, and move between all the realms whenever the Aesir tried to hunt him down.

He noticed that Stark had turned his head to look at him. Startled, he looked up to meet his eyes while trying to recall what the man had just said.

"Pardon?"

"I said you're quite good at this," Tony repeated. "Didn't think you had those kind of skills, to be honest. Being a prince and all, I thought you were pampered enough to have someone else do stuff like this."

Loki gave a hint of a smile. "We didn't have servants for every little thing. We were out on quests a lot and..." Loki broke the eye contact to focus intently on his hands instead as his face hardened into an unreadable mask. "Thor would always get into skirmishes no matter where we'd go and he'd get injured or pull a muscle and he wanted me to give him massages to get better. He would nag me until I gave in, like the spoiled brat he was."

"Is Asgård flat?" Tony asked instead, mostly because he didn't particularly want to deal with a pissy Loki. "Last night, you told me that your funerary ships drifts over the edge of the world. Earth is round so unless you do it by a massive waterfall it wouldn't really work here. So I take it your world isn't round, which kinda fucks with the rules of gravity and physics and that is quite disturbing."

"The laws of physics do not work exactly the same in all realms."

"Physics is a constant, of course it always remains the same," Tony argued.

"In this world, this dimension of yours, your physics remains constant," Loki explained as he kept massaging Tony's lower back. "Gravity and spacetime is what holds your entire universe together. All the suns and planets in all the solar systems in every galaxy are ruled by the same forces, which is why they're all round because the force of their own gravity shapes them so. Asgård is in another dimension that works differently, which is why we can also have flat worlds instead of only round. The most skilled of the dwarven blacksmiths of Nidavellir can forge their most powerful creations in the hearts of dying stars. In Niflheim and Hel, time doesn't exist; only a handful of living persons have visited the realms of the dead without losing their minds. Each dimension has its own set of rules."

"Multiverse," Tony gasped as his mind worked to take in the mindblowing information as actual facts, and all the exciting possibilities that came with it. He'd thought that Asgård had simply been another planet, located most likely somewhere in the Milky Way, which could've easily proven the Einstein-Rosen bridge theory because of the spacetime, but wormholes between _actual different dimensions_ that possibly didn't even have the same or similar spacetime – even lacking time if Loki was correct – was a whole other level of interesting. "And Asgardians can go to every single one?"

Loki was silent for some time before he gave his answer.

"The Bifrost can transport the Aesir to any known realm in any dimension, which is why we are gods. But there are realms out there that not even the Gatekeeper can see. That is where the Chitauri roams, and beings far more dangerous than them."

He shuddered as he thought of the vile creatures that had ripped the flesh off his bones, devoured his muscles and pulled his nerve endings apart for weeks – perhaps even months – until the Mad Titan and the Other required his assistance for their grand plan. He found it a bit amusing that he could take such immense torture, over and over again as he kept healing himself, yet it was the fragile short-lived humans that had found his breaking point.

"And where would all these dimensions be located?" Tony asked, drawing Loki out of his memories and back to the present. "Something's gotta be out there to hold them together. Are they bubbles? Like the bubble theory. Or glass marbles? That's correct, isn't it? We're all in glass marbles, just like in that movie."

"The Yggdrasil. All the dimensions are branches and roots of the world tree. Everything is made from the same source but never made identical, hence the differences in physical laws."

"You're shitting me. A fucking _tree_?" Tony shook his head. "And where would this tree be growing?"

"Ginnungagap, the great void. Nothing exists there except for the tree and the creatures that live on it, and when the branches die they will rot away to nothing, but new ones may grow and take their place. Only the roots, the realms of the dead, remains eternal."

"I prefer the glass marble movie theory," Tony said with a snort. "All the marbles are kept in a bag until the giant aliens takes them out to play, making our worlds shake and collide. It makes much more sense than a tree."

Loki sneered but didn't say anything as he continued his massage. It wasn't like he had proof of Yggdrasil's existence, and why would he need to prove it to a stupid Midgardian anyway?

"I would like to see some of those places," Tony murmured after a short moment of silence. "I mean, the nice places, not the dead or Chitauri-infested ones."

Loki grinned mischievously.

"If you truly wanted to, you simply would have to do one thing."

"Which isn't ever going to happen, no matter how much you tempt me," Tony grinned right back at him. "How would you even bring me there, unless you can summon a mini-Bifrost?"

"There are still secrets in the multiverse that not even Odin Allfather himself, for all his self-proclaimed infinite wisdom, have been made aware," Loki stated with a secretive smile and pride in his voice.

He finished his massage and set his hands on his knees. Tony stretched, making his joints pop, and felt only a dull ache in his spine instead of sharp stabs of pain.

"Good as new! Nice work there, Rudolph," he said with a pat on Loki's knee.

He chose to ignore the way Loki tensed beneath the unexpected touch and left his hand for a moment longer before standing. He cleaned up the table and was about to leave when Loki's quiet voice made him stop.

"Stark." Tony turned to watch Loki, who seemed to struggle with himself before looking up. His face looked young and lost, and so incredibly honest. "Thank you."

Tony held his gaze for a moment then nodded and went on his way. Loki looked after him until he was well out of sight then put his face in his hands as he leaned his elbows on his knees. He had actually truly meant the words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the slowest chapter to write, I even had to take a long break from even thinking about it. (friendship fluff and nice things obviously isn't my strong side, but i tried.) Hobby-science is fun, but my apologies if actual terms or statements aren't correct.  
> Thank you again to all who commented and kudos'd!!! It means the world to me! :D  
> And no, Loki won't stay soft and sweet forever. He's still weak at the moment though and can't use magic to heal himself, please keep that in mind.  
> (the Avengers will finally appear in the next chapter, hooray!)


	8. Chapter 8

"We have a dire situation. Tony Stark has been compromised." Fury observed each of the Avengers' faces carefully as they took in the information. Rogers tensed up and leaned in closer to hear more, Banner dragged a hand over his face then rubbed his temples, Barton and Romanoff glanced at each other then looked back at Fury.

"At eleven twenty-five am four days ago, he broke Loki out of his prison and they have been missing from our radar ever since." Clint looked up with wide eyes at the mention of Loki before he took a deep breath to calm himself and keep his anger in check. "Our top agents have done their best to track them down but as of yet to no avail. One of Stark's cars was found in Winchester, Virginia, brought there as a decoy as we can't find any trace of them in the state."

"Not to sound disrespectful, Director Fury, sir," Clint started as he clenched his teeth, "but how could SHIELD let someone like Loki escape without a fight?"

Fury had the decency to look almost ashamed on behalf of his agency.

"That is something that is still under investigation. As it stands now, it seems that Stark was permitted entry into the holding facility by claiming he was there for his job as a consultant, despite wearing his Iron Man suit. Somehow he had learned of Loki's whereabouts and arrived with the intention of breaking him out, as several reports claims he headed for the cells straight away. We are not quite sure yet how it came to be. Stark knocked out the guards, meddled with our security systems and took a secured route out, the alarms didn't sound until seven pm with the shift change of the guards."

Fury walked over to the large windows of Avengers HQ's conference room and looked out over Manhattan. Memories of Stark saving the island from a nuclear missile sprang to mind. No matter how frustrating the man was as a person, he was still needed on the good side. He let out a heavy sigh before he continued.

"As you are aware, Stark is the one who constructed the magic-constraining collar we've used on Loki. Our primary theory is that Loki managed to get a hold of a part of Stark's mind during the Battle, and that Stark must have – knowingly or not – created a loophole for Loki to use to gradually get a stronger hold on Stark and make him come for him." He turned back to face his team. "If you should fail to retrieve them within a week's time, the World Security Council will set Emil Blonsky out after them. And I do not want that motherfucker out of prison."

"Language, sir," Steve admonished before he could stop himself.

Bruce shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the mention of Blonsky as he recalled their fights and how they had wrecked Harlem. In the end, the Abomination had been imprisoned even though he was considered a war hero. The Council had never been fond of the idea of the Hulk being an Avenger as they had wanted Blonsky for the position instead, and they had only reluctantly accepted the fact that the Hulk had helped to save the planet from the alien invasion. Having Blonsky retrieve Loki would be the one thing the Council needed to keep him out.

"We are keeping an eye on all of Stark's properties but we fear the information on some of them have been hidden from our reach. Not even our brightest techs can crack Jarvis. Banner, if you would be so kind and talk to Ms. Potts? She's been refusing to speak with SHIELD but I'm sure she would speak with a friend, for Stark's sake. Anything you might get out of her would be extremely valuable."

"I will try, sir," Bruce said quietly.

Fury came to stand before his team again, he leaned down on the conference table and hung his head for a moment before he looked up, making sure he had eye contact with every one of them in turn before he continued.

"I know you'll wish to bring Stark back alive. We truly have no idea how strongly he is being influenced by Loki. If possible, by all means do bring him back alive. If not, kill him." Steve and Bruce looked away. "That is exactly what Blonsky will do to get to Loki, please keep that in mind if you fail."

"And Loki?" Clint asked after a while. "Are we allowed to kill him?"

"No matter what he does or says to you, no. He is needed alive. We do not wish to bring war with Asgård. Thor is on our side but his father is still the king. The Earth is not yet ready for another battle with aliens. We have tried to call for Heimdall's attention, as Thor suggested, but we have so far not recieved any signs. Jane Foster will also try to get through to Heimdall. As soon as we hear that Thor is back, he will be called in to join you." Fury stood back up and gave a short nod of his head, "Dismissed." The team started to make their way out to begin their research, when Fury spoke again. "Agent Romanoff, if I may have a word in private."

Natasha closed the door behind her team mates and turned to Fury. Before he even got the chance to open his mouth, she interrupted with a question of her own.

"Why did it take four days?" Fury held back a smile at his agent's attentiveness. Natasha stepped closer. "Agent Barton was in New York this entire time, why wasn't he contacted? He could have trailed Stark right away and we wouldn't have this situation."

"The situation with Loki is delicate. Agents Tolly and Bosworth were in charge of him and were expected to find him. I gave them four days until I'd bring you in, the Council in turn will give you a week and that's the best I could do. I also did not want Barton involved without the team, in case he'd make drastic decisions. You and I both know he'd be willing to take the first chance he got with Loki. I'm even doubting his involvement right now."

"Agent Barton will be professional about this, sir," Natasha stated surely.

"He better be, unless he wants to take on an army of Asgardians." Fury reached inside his inner pocket and took out a small box, containing three syringes filled with a clear green liquid. "One injection is enough to put Loki down for five days. Two shots for two weeks. Three shots for a month, give or take a few weeks if he's got all of his magic back. The needles are made of adamantium, as lighter material would only break against his skin."

Natasha frowned but didn't comment. She knew it was necessary to experiment with sedatives on alien lifeforms in case of future wars but it still unnerved her how such effective drugs had been created already, and what it could mean to humankind if someone decided to use it against them.

She secured the box and looked back up at Fury.

"What was the delicate situation you spoke of?"

"Loki is a trickster. SHIELD has experimented on him to create these strong sedatives, and we had to be sure that he hadn't brought any with him to use against us. They stayed briefly here at the Tower which is why we locked it down for two days, in case he'd set a trap. Only once the Tower was cleared and Bosworth confirmed that there were no missing vials, I could call all of you in."

"And what of Thor? Does he know about the experiments?"

"He does. Keep in mind, Romanoff; no matter what lies Loki will try and tell you, Thor and Odin are the ones who suggested Loki to be used for our knowledge and thereby further protection against otherworldly creatures. There was no need for us to look a gift horse in the mouth."

"We won't fail, sir," Natasha said with a short smile. "Blonsky won't be getting out anytime soon, you can count on that."

 

***

 

Bruce listened restlessly to the ringtones, hoping yet again that this was the time when Stark would finally pick up. He'd tried to call him seven times already but always ended up on voicemail. As he heard the familiar message, he hung up and tried a different number.

"Hello, Bruce," Pepper's gentle voice greeted him after the fifth ring. "How are you?"

"I'm...fine. And you?"

"I could have been better," Pepper gave a short humourless laugh. "Atleast it's always sunny in Malibu. Any particular reason why you're calling me?"

"Yeah.. I was wondering... You are aware that Tony's gone missing, right?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Pepper replied.

"Tony is safe," she admitted. "Well, that's what he tells me, atleast. He won't give me any particular details. He did tell me to say he's in Singapore if anyone asked, not that that would be much of a help to you."

Bruce smiled, "Well, it does rule out Asia." His smile died down and he rubbed his temples. "It's really important that we find him though Pepper, for his own sake. We have one week to bring Loki back, or Emil Blonsky will be set out after them." He took a deep breath before he explained. "He was sent after me before...when I was hiding. He found me in Brazil and chased me relentlessly, he was obsessed with taking me down. He has been injected with the Super Soldier Serum and also exposed himself to Gamma radiation, which turned him into a creature known as the Abomination. He's larger and stronger than the Other Guy, and chances are high that he will kill Tony to get to Loki. Please tell him this, he needs to know what he's in for."

"I... I will, Bruce. I promise you I'll get back to you if Tony agrees to. Until then I really can't say a word, I'm sorry." She sniffed. Bruce closed his eyes in sympathy, he could only imagine the worries Pepper had dealt with the last few days. "I really do hope you'll find them. He won't talk to me about what happened or why he took Loki, and I'm so worried that Loki... I mean, Tony still sounds like himself and we keep a daily contact, but this is so unlike him. Please bring him home."

"I promise we'll try our best, Pepper."

 

***

 

The days had passed by slowly. Tony had set up a workshop in the garage, mostly to play around with the junk that was lying around to see if he could create something useful out of it (which he sort of had, if a tiny mindless robo-frog could be considered useful) but he was already longing for Malibu or New York, where he could do some real work.

He'd done the shopping to last a few days, the Cadillac was fully tanked and well-stocked in case they needed to make a quick getaway, and he just felt so god damn grown up and prepared it wasn't even funny. Maybe he should man up and contact Bruce to clear things out...or maybe it was time to head on out to another location.

He left the workshop to head into the kitchen and refill his cup of coffee, but instead of going back he went out to check on his charge. He needed to stretch his legs anyway. Loki had kept up a steady routine in the backyard, trying his darndest to get his muscles back in his arms and legs by walking and doing a small series of simple exercises. His abdomen was still too tender for him to even think about attempting anything more which annoyed him to no end. He'd even tried to throw sticks at a target as if they were daggers, but had missed every time. Tony had laughed at him and the god had sulked, claiming that his fingers were still stiff from the years of disuse and had then gone away on a moody walk in the forest, where he'd probably continued practicing throwing his twigs without an audience.

Tony looked around for awhile before he spotted him. Loki had already exhausted himself and had fallen asleep out on the grass. His upper body, which was currently covered in sweat, had gotten some colour on it from the long hours in the sun. Tony had first thought about buying him some sun lotion but Loki had claimed his skin wouldn't get burnt and Tony had shrugged and let Loki deal with whatever burns he got himself when the time came.

His skin certainly didn't look burnt, though. A little hint of peach in some places, a definite improvement over the deathly white from before. His arms looked better as well, the bruises had begun to fade and he'd started to develop a hint of biceps. The bedsores all over his back would need plenty more time to heal though.

Tony watched him sleep for a while as he drank his coffee. He actually liked the guy. Sure, Loki was Loki and Tony had taken care not to get too enticed by his words and actions, but Loki had proven to be an enjoyable company. They'd had some immensely fascinating conversations over dinner, mostly about metaphysics and alien technology, and Tony had even learnt some more about the different realms and holy fuck was his mind blown to find out that some of the known – and _unknown_ – realms were located within Tony's very own Milky Way.

Tony wasn't quite sure yet if he was excited over it or not; on the one hand, wow, there were plenty of other life forms out there in the very same galaxy, on the other hand; wow, there were plenty of possible space invaders within reach. He couldn't wait to begin building satellites to pick up approaching ships, he'd been playing around with the designs on his StarkPad and Loki had even helped him out by listing specific alloys to watch out for.

On a lighter note on their time spent together, Tony had even managed to make Loki laugh. Not the usual chuckles or the humourless ones, but an actual heartfelt laugh. Tony found that he quite liked that sound and he was very pleased with himself every time he managed to get one. They shared drinks at night and Loki told him it was a sign of companionship in Asgård to share your drink with someone, to which Tony responded by filling up their glasses with some more.

And the fact that he got a perverse sense of pleasure by seeing Loki wear his collar...well that was something he didn't particularly want to contemplate too deeply upon, but he had to admit that he certainly got a thrill of excitement from watching Loki wear his name, his Iron Man colours.

Tony had even surprised himself by actually taken care not to mention anything that could be too triggering, there were no talks of what had happened, about Bruce, the babies, SHIELD, the Battle, of what would be done when Tony finally had to hand him over. Those talks needed to be had, but Tony kept postponing it because he didn't want to have to talk about it either. And he quite enjoyed this current Loki, surely he could be selfish for a few days longer before he'd have to turn Loki into a sour hostile prisoner.

Tony raised his phone and snapped a photo, added the comments "Kitten fell asleep" and sent it to Pepper. That woman really had to stop worrying about him already.

Only then did he notice he had several missed phone calls from her. He frowned, they kept regular contact in the evening and something must have been bothering Pepper more than usual for her to call throughout the entire day. As if on cue, he recieved a text from her.

_"Let the Avengers find you. Blonsky will be coming for you in a week."_

Tony frowned. Blonsky, the twisted psychopath that Bruce had told him about? He sent back a simple 'x' to let her know he'd read the message, then put the phone back in his pocket. He looked down at Loki still sleeping in the late afternoon sun as he thought of his choices.

Blonsky would be a nightmare to face; even the Hulk had had problems with beating him. But he liked Loki too much to hand him over back to SHIELD. And there was no way he'd release him. Loki would disappear forever and Tony didn't... The fuck was he thinking, Tony didn't want to be the one who set the would-be world conqueror free, that's all. He turned around and walked away with angry steps.

Loki blinked his eyes open and turned his head just in time to watch Stark walk towards the car. A cold sense of dread filled him and he scrambled up from the ground to hurry after him.

"Stark?"

"I need to get laid," was all the man said before he sat down in the Cadillac and drove off with squealing tires.

Loki shuddered and subconsciously put his arms around himself. He felt too exposed out in the open and quickly made his way inside the house, where he made sure to lock all the doors and shut the windows and pull the blinds down.

He stood there feeling stupid for a moment before he made his way into the bathroom for a shower. He tried to relax, Stark had gone away a few times already and nothing had happened, but he still remained on edge. He dried off and went to his room to get a new set of clothes, then went out to the living room to curl up on the couch and watch tv.

Hours passed. Stark had never been gone for this amount of time before. Loki nervously started to bite the side of his fingernail as he kept glancing at the clock on the wall more than looking at the actual tv.

"This is stupid," he growled at himself as he laid down on the couch.

He watched one dull Midgardian entertainment show after another. The room grew darker as the sun set. Loki was _not_ thinking about Stark. He changed the channels to try and find something more appealing, when he heard it. The powerful roaring in the air, a dull buzz at first until it got closer and he could hear the distinctive choppy sounds of rotor blades.

A helicopter was approaching.

His heart raced. He shut off the tv as if the light from it would somehow attract attention, then snuck off to a window to glance through the blinds. The helicopter was soaring above the nearby forest, its strong flashlight searching through the woods, then it turned to the house.

Loki breath caught in his throat, his fingers tightened around the remote control and tingled with the urge to call forth his magic to bring the helicopter down, but he couldn't do anything but to stand there helplessly staring at it as it approached. They were coming for him.

It was directly over the house now and Loki shut his eyes tightly. SHIELD agents would crash through the door and take him down any minute now. His heart was racing so fast he feared it would break through his ribcage, his entire being was shaking with fear.

Then the helicopter passed to keep searching elsewhere. A few minutes more and then the sound was completely gone. Loki panted hard, his shaky legs gave out and he fell to a crumpled heap on the floor. He pulled his knees up to wrap his arms around his legs, then leaned his head down and broke down.

It was early morning when Stark returned. Loki startled as the front door opened and Stark turned on the lights. The man reeked of alcohol and sex as he made his way to the living room to pass out on the couch, but he froze in place at the sight of Loki.

Loki had remained in the same position on the floor throughout the night, he looked up with wide frightened eyes until he recognised Stark. Only then did he try to look calm and unconcerned but couldn't hide the redshot eyes, slightly swollen from crying.

With a lightening fast move of his arm, Loki hurled the remote control that he'd still clutched across the room, it crashed into the wall next to Stark's head. Whether it didn't hit him on purpose or because of Loki's piss-poor aim, Tony didn't know.

Loki glared heatedly at him for a moment before he averted his gaze as he stiffly stood up, his body not quite cooperating which almost made him fall down again, then he took a deep breath and slowly made his way into his bedroom, leaving Stark to look on in baffled silence.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bright Lights have hit 10,000 views!! Thank you to everyone who's reading it!!!!!! :D  
> Also, for those of you who read the last chapter within the first hour when it got uploaded, please go back and reread the three last paragraphs or so? It's not a big change but they talk about it here, so just in case you get confused what they're on about... :)

Loki had avoided Tony the entire day. For someone supposedly unable to do anything more than walk, he was surprisingly quick to disappear out of sight anytime Tony attempted to discreetly pass by. The thing that kept bothering Tony though was how he could feel Loki observe him, no matter where he went. He was almost certain that Loki was lurking outside the bathroom window to make sure Tony didn't, for whatever reason, attempt to crawl his way out through there.

Loki was angry at him for leaving and wanted to keep his distance, yet he seemed too skittish to let Tony out of his sight. It was weird on so many levels, but then again, what in the last days hadn't been? Tony had decided to play along with it, Loki would get over it eventually he hoped.

He spent most of the day in the garage, working away on a new and improved robo-frog just to clear his mind and work out the built up tension from his body. It was past dinner time when he remembered to call Pepper and reassure her that he still was very much alive (but mostly to get yelled at for missing the scheduled call the previous evening), then he decided it was time to move on. He needed some new surroundings, and hopefully a change would give him the boost he needed to talk about Uncomfortable Things with Loki and Bruce.

"Pack your stuff, Princess, we're moving out," he announced as he went into the kitchen to grab something to eat, knowing that Loki was lurking somewhere close enough to hear.

Less than an hour later, Tony had filled the Cadillac with boxes and a moody god and headed out towards the freeway.

"Mind telling me what got you so worked up last night?" Loki didn't respond and Tony rolled his eyes. "Okay, how about you actually appreciate when I ask things of you nicely rather than demand it from you."

A dark smirk played at the corner of Loki's lips.

"Would you like to demand things of me, Stark?"

"If that's what I need to do to get you to talk, then I will," Tony stated, ignoring the way Loki's sensual tone seemed to insinuate other things. "What got your panties up in a bunch last night?"

Loki looked out the window and bit his lip in agitation. He had to keep reminding himself to play nice with Stark, that he still needed him, when every fiber in his being just wanted to be done with it all and get on his own way.

"There was a helicopter," he said quietly at last. "You'd left and I thought they'd come for me."

Oh. Well that certainly explained a thing or two about Loki's behaviour. Tony glanced at him in the rearview mirror. 

"It was probably a police helicopter," he explained. "They use helicopters sometimes to track shooters and reckless drivers and what not... If it was SHIELD, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." Loki gave him an annoyed look and Tony raised his eyebrows. "Stating the obvious, aren't I?"

They were silent for a while as they drove on. Tony wondered if he should feel bad for leaving Loki all alone like he'd done, especially considering how freaked out he'd been. And SHIELD could have been waiting for just such an opportune moment, after all. But then again he _was_ a selfish asshole and he needed his own space too, away from all this mess. The seedy strip joint he'd found last night was exactly what he'd craved; no one knew who he was and there were no fishy SHIELD secrets that he had to deal with. Just girls, sex and booze.

Loki sighed and initiated a conversation.

"I'm not satisfied with the stitches."

"How so?"

"It's not healing fast enough. It's been five days and I am still unable to run."

Tony shifted slightly in his seat. Had it been five days already? Only?

"Well, you know for women on Earth it supposedly can take six weeks before they recover enough to start exercising." Yes he'd let Jarvis do some research.

"I am not a Earth woman, and I do not wish to spend six weeks simply laying around doing nought."

Tony pulled the car over and turned in his seat so he could look Loki straight in the eyes.

"Do you need a doctor? Because I can take you to one right now, before we leave the state. It's up to you. It's either now or whenever we leave for another destination."

Because Tony, while still sporting his goatee, could blend in to a crowd, what with all the fans of Iron Man who tried to look like their hero. A man with a womb was another story and while doctors had their Hippocratic oaths, Tony wouldn't ever trust them to actually keep silent. Especially when their patient was one of the most wanted criminals in the world. And holy shit was it weird to think of Loki like that now when he was so weak and meek and sort of normal.

Loki looked like he wanted to accept the offer but declined with a slight shake of his head.

"It would be too risky."

Tony bit the side of his cheek and looked down at Loki's stomach.

"Do you think there's an infection? Lift your shirt, let me see."

Loki's eyes hardened slightly as he lifted his shirt and lowered his trousers to show the scar. The incision site didn't look overly red or swollen, in fact Tony thought it had healed above expectations all things considered, but then again he didn't know how it looked on the inside.

He thought he'd emptied everything out before he'd patched Loki back together but he could have missed something which could be causing trouble, it wasn't like Loki could bleed it out like a normal woman.

"Last chance, Snowflake. Doctor or not?"

Loki was quiet for a long time before he finally replied. "I suppose I will have to accept your theory on a slow recovery."

Tony nodded and turned back in his seat. Loki had actually contemplated the idea of going to a doctor, which he had been so completely against before. He'd have to keep that in mind, in case Loki got worse or something.

"I'll call a doctor tomorrow and get some advice," he offered while shifting the car into gear.

"Thank you."

There was a hint of a smile upon Tony's lips as he easily slid into conversation mode, not wanting Loki to get back to his sour self when he knew the god could be lighthearted and fun. It would be a long drive throughout the night after all.

 

***

 

It was around noon when they arrived at their destination, a large villa about an hour's drive east of Atlanta. Tony carried in the boxes while Loki took a walk around the garden. The property was surrounded by white walls, tall enough to keep people from looking in or climbing over, but nice enough to not give a restricted feel. Outside the walls was a small forest seperating them from their closest neighbours. Considering the villa's location, with other houses nearby, it still felt secluded.

And there was a pool. Loki sat down by the edge and put his bare feet in the water to feel the temperature. Maybe water exercises would be easier for his stomach than on land.

Tony soon joined him, plopping down on the ground with a huffed breath and reached down to splash around some water as he looked over at Loki.

"I actually made you something, before we left."

Loki looked at the item Tony placed in his hands and frowned.

"......A frog?"

"Oh wow, gee. Calm down please, I can't handle these immense amounts of gratitude thrown at me all at once." He reached out a finger to poke at the robo-frog. "You load it up with rocks and stuff here and it will jump around and fire them at you so you can deflect them. Figured you needed some more training because your aim is pretty damn shitty. We both know you meant to throw the remote control at my head. Not that I'm not glad you missed because did you see the fucking dent it left in my wall? So I hope I won't regret this if you freak out on me again. But if things were to happen while I'm away, it'd be good to know you can hit a target...right?"

Loki turned it over in his hands as he inspected the craftmanship. It wasn't one of Stark's finest creations, but he had made it just for Loki. He didn't particularly care to feel sentiments, but he could count on one hand the things that had been created and gifted especially for him that were not from his mother. And Stark hadn't only gifted him with a frog, but he had saved Loki's life and even now wanted to keep him away from SHIELD, despite their history and what Loki had done. Even when Thor had finally given up on him and destroyed their brotherly bonds for good, Stark was there and offered freely his protection and companionship with drinks and laughter. The man was a complete fool, but had they met under different circumstances, Loki would have liked to call him a friend. He turned to Stark with his outmost sincere look on his face.

"I am sure it will become useful. Thank you, Stark."

Tony put his hand on Loki's shoulder – noting with internal glee that Loki didn't tense up or flinch at contact anymore – and stood up to go inside and finish unpacking their stuff.

Loki decided to try the device. He brought it over to the furthest edge of the garden where there were plenty enough small rocks (and where Stark couldn't see him if he failed) and loaded it up. He grabbed a handful of stones and pressed the button. The frog started to move, jumping shakily from one spot to another, and then it threw the first rock.

Right at Loki's face.

Loki managed to grab the rock at the very last moment before it would hit him between his eyes, and used it to try and fend off the next one. He kept missing them, but he also avoided getting hit. He was moving slowly and carefully but increasingly gracefully. His stomach hurt if he made any too sudden moves but the unexpected excitement dulled it out.

The frog leaped around randomly, Loki had tried to map its movements but as soon as he anticipated it to go in one direction, it went in another. Its sensors seemed to be able to focus on Loki no matter where either of them were though, and it threw its rocks at him in a varied order, sometimes taking a moment before each attack and sometimes firing away several at once.

The frog threw its last stone and Loki threw his in return. His stone hit the frog's with a small clatter and they bounced off each other towards the ground. It wasn't something big but it was progress, and Loki could finally feel like he was starting to get back to his old self.

 

***

 

Loki and Tony had finished dinner and relaxed out on the patio, talking softly in the chill evening breeze. Loki was more relaxed than he'd been in what felt like a lifetime. He ran his fingers through his hair which was still wet from the time spent in the pool. He stretched out over the length of the couch and glanced over at Stark in the armchair every now and then as they spoke of the different inhabited worlds in the galaxy that Loki had visited; the creatures, their customs, traditions and weapons.

Loki was happy to provide certain information; after all, if Stark could manage to build a satellite to pick up on incoming ships, it would favour Loki as well, as Thanos and the Other most likely wanted to make true to their promise to him for failing the invasion and bringing them the Tesseract. It would take them years to travel through the galaxy without a portal though, so for now he was safe from that threat at least.

Just as Loki felt his eyes start to droop, of course the damn human had to ruin his good mood by bringing back the talk of Thor.

"I really think we need to bring Thor into this."

Stupid human.

"Into your satellite plans?" Loki asked, playing dumb. "I can see how you would wish for him to bring it up into orbit but the dumb oaf would probably wreck it in the process."

Tony gave him his best 'bitch please' look as he sipped his whiskey.

"About the 'alien princess who shouldn't be on Earth' plans," he clarified needlessly. "No matter how I twist and turn things, the only outcome I can see is that he takes you away from here. If not back to Asgård, then somewehere else where you can spend time in jail in a more...safe environment than here. Vanaheim sounds like a good enough place from what you've told me, doesn't it?"

Loki bristled with anger on the inside, but outwards only looked at Stark with sad eyes.

"You really believe Thor would bring me to Vanaheim?" he asked softly.

"I don't know all the history between you, but from what I _do_ know, he tried to reason with you and bring you back home even as the Chitauri invaded. So yes, I believe he would do it for you. He loves you."

Loki shut his eyes tightly and turned his head away as he stiffly moved up to a sitting position. He had to bite his tongue to keep quiet of his dark remarks of just how deep and throroughly Thor had _loved_ him.

"He should be back on Earth any day now anyway, I'd think," Tony continued. "I mean, that Foster chick is still here, you know."

Loki frowned and glanced back at Stark. "He's still with the mortal woman?"

"They've gotten married. Last year. Only a handful of humans knows because they don't want to risk some loon on Earth making an attempt at killing her when she's back here. She's holding some seminars and stuff now because she didn't want to disappear away to Asgård for good, or something like that, I didn't really pay all that much attention to be honest. I supposed no one told you that while you were...with SHIELD?"

Loki felt like he'd gotten punched in the guts and the air was knocked out of his lungs. He couldn't breathe. He just stared wide-eyed at Stark for a long minute, not quite managing to comprehend what the man had just told him.

"Married?" he whispered, his voice not strong enough to carry a harsher tone.

Thor had married a simple mortal? How in the Nine had the Allfather ever allowed that for his precious Golden Prince? As much as Odin liked to preach about all races being of equal worth, it was quite obvious that the Aesir always thought themselves superior to the rest. Odin had always hoped for an Aesir or Vanir shield-maiden like Sif as a daughter-in-law, definitely not some measly mortal maggot.

But oh, it would explain some things. Why Thor had been so desperately eager to follow his King's outrageous commands. Loki let out a short quiet laugh, but it sounded more like a sob to his own ears. Why hadn't the thought occurred to him before?

"Of course he would get what he wished for the most," he thought out loud, his teeth grinding together as his jaws clenched in anger. "Such a small price to pay for him, after all."

That is how the Allfather had convinced Thor to go through with breeding Loki. Thor wouldn't have been able to resist. All he wanted was the mortal woman, what was a broken brotherly bond in comparison to her? And in the very same stroke, Odin had degraded the mortal wench for not giving birth to Thor's firstborn. Those selfish bastards, like father like son.

It hurt, more than he'd ever thought it could. More than the actual experience itself. He honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he did a little bit of both.

Tony was shifting axiously in his seat, sensing that there was something more to the God Brothers' story and that he most likely didn't want to know about it. The things Loki had said came unbidden to his mind and he got the most fucked up ideas in his head and no, nu uh, nope, he didn't want to believe any of that was true.

_"Then there was a set of twins, sired by someone else"_ , Loki had said when Tony had questioned him, and his entire body language had showed signs of trauma.

And it would make so much sense, if it wasn't so incredibly fucked up. But then again, he wouldn't have believed that the Hulk had bred Loki either if he hadn't held the baby in his own fucking hands.

He covered his face with his hands as he tried to calm down, then looked sternly at Loki through his fingers.

"Those twins you mentioned, back then... they're Thor's, aren't they?"

Loki couldn't look at him. He was quiet, his face turned away from Stark's. His fingers dug deeply into his arms, aggravating all the scars and bedsores within their reach in attempt to focus on something other than the overwhelming anguish. He wanted to rant and rave, call Stark the most despicable things for even entertaining such vile thoughts, but he remained silent for minutes.

"Now you understand why I don't wish to draw any of Asgård's attention," he said finally, his voice cracking. "Even Thor would gladly bring me back to SHIELD."

Tony groaned at Loki's indirect confirmation and covered his face again. What the fuck was this, what had Tony gotten himself into?

 

***

 

Natasha leaned back and groaned as she stretched her arms. She was a spy, it was her job to find all the dirty little secrets where no one else cared to look, but research was quite frankly boring.

They had attempted to hack the systems, then woo Jarvis into giving them what they wanted but the AI was as stubborn as his creator, and finally they had no other choice but to go through the records manually in the archives – something which Steve had already begun the very moment they had left the meeting with Fury three days earlier.

Going through heaps of papers of houses and facilities and comparing them to the current list SHIELD had wasn't exactly Natasha's idea of fun work.

"Guys, I think I have something here," Steve suddenly said with a hopeful tone to his voice. His team mates dropped what they were doing and gathered around to see. "See this? This factory was used by Stark Industries up until seven years ago, when it was sold to a certain Henry Cloud. But if you look at this..." Steve's finger ran over SHIELD's list until he found what he was looking for. "It's still being used by Stark Industries today, for storaging."

"Why store something at a factory you've sold," Clint mused, "unless it's still yours."

"Exactly. And it would explain how the information on some of his properties are hidden."

"They don't belong to Tony anymore," Natasha concluded. "Not by name, atleast."

"So now we're going to look for houses owned by Henry Cloud?" Clint asked.

"Or any other name Tony could have used," Steve said with a shrug. "Just a couple of billion to choose from, really."

"I reckon he changed ownership on some of the houses at the very last minute," Bruce stated. "If Tony brought Loki here first, he couldn't have had everything prepared. They'd risk running in to any of us and why take such a chance? He needed to secure some locations first before he could take Loki there."

"And if he has houses listed under alternative names, he must have credit cards as well," Natasha said. "It would explain how there hasn't been any outtakes in his name for the past week. Tony wouldn't live a Spartan life even if he was brainwashed."

"Alright team. Start digging."


	10. Chapter 10

Sometimes Tony really wished he'd never gone to Boston. It wasn't exactly as if Iron Man was the most needed superhero to deal with the ruckus that some local gangster had started, Hawkeye or Black Widow or even some ordinary SHIELD agent without a cool codename could have handled it easily enough, but the man had used old stolen Stark tech that were meant to have been scrapped and Tony had felt somewhat personally insulted.

In hindsight he should've just let the others have dealt with it and he could've spent this very minute sitting on his sleek couch in his luxurious penthouse in _his own fucking tower_ , sipping top quality scotch and rubbing Pepper's feet.

And maybe other parts of Pepper as well, because sometimes they still got together even though they were officially on a break, whatever that meant.

She hadn't slept in his bed for years though, not since she got attacked by the Mark 42 suit when he'd been having nightmares after the Battle. So okay, not that he could blame her for that because any sane person would've felt a bit shaken up by almost getting killed by an empty Iron Man suit in the middle of the night.

But in the end, he had gone to Boston and the tracking device had gotten through to him and this whole Loki mess had happened. He didn't doubt that he had done the right thing, especially when he had held the little girl in his hands, but he wasn't the right person for this gig. He wanted to go back to being a selfish asshole who drank too much and slept with too many women, not hiding away in some random house he owned for some unknown reason, helping a Norse god get over his trauma and what not. It was so character building.

Although in some way, he did feel a little good about himself for doing it. He couldn't quite put his finger on it because while he was a genius, understanding and dealing with such complex feelings wasn't exactly his forté. All he knew for sure was that despite Pepper's worries, he hadn't suffered from any nightmares. Bad dreams, sure, always, but not to the extent where he had panic attacks and his Mark 56 suit would come to his rescue.

Every morning it would remain folded up neatly into a little portable box in the corner of the room. He'd even put it on once to see if it still worked, just in case, and it had been flawless.

So atleast he hadn't had _that_ to worry about. He had enough on his plate already, thank you very much.

Tony had spent the entire night in his newly set-up basement workshop, just hammering away at stuff, not really caring if there was a final product at the end of it all just as long as he got to let off some steam.

It had been horrible enough that Bruce, or atleast the Hulk, had been breeding Loki but when someone like Thor, who was supposed to be some godly knight in shining armour, had intentionally been getting his own brother pregnant, yeah that would have been enough to mess anyone up.

No wonder Loki got so pissy whenever Tony had mentioned Thor. And here he had been thinking it was only because of some stupid sibling rivalry.

Tony kept hammering away at some random piece of metal junk, hoping his overactive brain would finally decide to get over whatever shock that kept it stuck on the nope train to Fuck-that-ville, maybe then he could figure out what to do.

He knew he should call Pepper and tell her about it all, maybe even get her to talk with Bruce and save himself from that situation for a moment longer, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. Like if he actually said out loud what Bruce had done it would become real, however unlogical the thought was. Tony had never backed down from anything before in his life – avoiding little nonsense things like talking to one-night stands and what not, sure, but he had never chickened out from something big. Like this.

He should have called Bruce the very moment he got over the initial shock, question him hard about the hows and whys, he'd even started to dial Bruce's number once but he just couldn't bring himself to go through with it and he really had no idea why.

If Bruce didn't know anything, he deserved to know what had been done to him and Loki. If Bruce actually was a willing participant, he deserved to know he'd been found out. Seemed easy enough, didn't it? Yet Tony kept destroying one scrap after another instead of picking up the phone.

 

***

 

Loki lifted himself out of the pool and laid down on the grass to dry off in the midday sun, his body too exhausted to do anything else. He had been correct regarding how easier it had been to move about and train in the water and even though he had made some progress with his physical health, it certainly wasn't enough to ease his troubled mind.

Stark had found out about him and Thor. He had expected the man to act like, well, everyone, to call Loki a manipulative liar and immediately side with Thor regardless of the situation but Stark hadn't done anything of the sort, as of yet.

If there was one thing Loki could not afford at this moment, it was having Stark give up on him.

He'd been going with the choice of telling the truth, or slight variations of it, almost to the point where it had felt that the collar was making him do it like a truth serum, and in the end he could only hope that Stark would recognise it for what it was whenever SHIELD would catch up with them and the man would have to make a choice.

He could have lied, told Stark all kinds of stories to gain more sympathy, but Stark was the kind of man who seemed to know bullshit when he heard it. For Loki's own sake in this matter it was better to just keep with the truth, it would win him Stark's trust faster than any sweet lies he could think of – faster still if only the man wasn't so damn stubborn.

And Loki still found himself to be annoyingly skittish whenever Stark left his sight for too long. It was ridiculous and he hated each and every time he felt his heart race with anxiety, even now he only stayed calm because he could hear the man tinker away at something in the basement through an open window.

He blamed it on his years of isolation. It was one thing to choose solitude, another to be held isolated and having your only brief contacts with others being through rape and childbirth. Having someone around that you could trust was what most beings craved deep down, and while he loathed to admit it; Stark's presence was oddly soothing. Loki supposed he craved it like he did as long as he was collared; if something were to happen to the fragile human he would be stuck with the damned thing for quite some time. He liked to tell himself that keeping a constant track of Stark's whereabouts also meant that the man was alive and well, for purely selfish reasons.

He fell asleep on the grass to the sounds of Tony's hammer.

 

***

 

"Greetings, Heimdall," Thor said with a smile as he approached the Observatory at the end of the Bifrost.

"Greetings, my Prince," Heimdall responded with a short nod.

"How are things with my sweet Jane? It's been two weeks since I last saw her!"

She'd had book signings and seminars regarding the Foster theory but Thor couldn't go with her as Odin had demanded him to Svartalfheim where a war had started brewing against Nidavellir. Thor had been reluctant to let Jane get back to Midgård without him and had begged her to wait and postpone her work until he'd come back, which she'd had some very strong opinions about; she'd even forbade him from coming and visiting her until she'd cooled down. Thor had no choice but to comply, so every day since his return from Svartalfheim he'd gone out to Heimdall to hear what he could see.

"All is well with Lady Jane," Heimdall assured as his gaze sought her out. "She's called out for you," he admitted after a short moment's contemplation. He didn't need to say that she's been trying to do that for a week as it was SHIELD that had requested it from her, but now she was asking for Thor for herself.

"She's forgiven me, then!" Thor burst out with the biggest smile his face could manage. "Send me there now!"

"I am afraid I cannot do that, my Prince."

Thor frowned and looked questioningly at the Gatekeeper.

"How so? Jane has forgiven me and is calling for me, what reason have you to not comply? The realms are safe, are they not?"

"The Queen's orders. You are not permitted to leave for Midgård at this time."

Thor was baffled. What was his mother up to?

"As your Crown Prince, I demand that you send me to Midgård, _now_!"

"The Queen's orders are above yours."

Thor gritted his teeth. Frigga had no reasons to keep him from Midgård, unless there was something about Loki that he didn't know.

"Is something the matter with Loki? Has he escaped?"

"Loki is still being kept prisoner at this time," Heimdall said, his gaze hard upon Thor's.

Thor found it hard to meet the golden eyes but didn't back down or look away. He'd done what needed to be done, if Heimdall had watched he'd know that too.

"And his offspring?"

"All of them are safe but one; stillborn."

Thor felt a little saddened at the news. After what his once-brother had to be put through to get with child, having it die at birth seemed like a tremendous waste. He could only hope that Loki would recover soon enough to get with another; Odin would never let him out of his punishment until there were plenty enough of soldiers in the army.

"So if Midgård is safe and Loki is still kept prisoner, what reason is there for my mother to keep me away when my wife is calling for me?"

"That you must ask the Queen."

"And that I will. I'll return soon enough, be ready with your sword, Gatekeeper."

With that, Thor turned and left with angry steps until he could swing Mjölnir and fly to the castle. Heimdall turned his gaze to look at Loki where he was sleeping in the garden of his keeper. No matter what his personal opinions were of the former prince, he understood the Queen's reasons well enough. Loki, despite all his crimes, deserved the little taste of fresh air after what had been done to him. He was still a prisoner; Thor's battle comrade may have taken him out of his cell but the man would not be swayed into letting Loki free. The Midgardians would catch up to Loki soon enough but Asgård would not interfere. Thor would not be sent there until the collar was at a risk of being taken off – or if Thor managed to get Odin to override Frigga's orders.

 

Thor landed on Frigga's balcony and strode purposefully inside her chambers.

"Mother?" he bellowed as he checked her rooms.

He found her sitting in her personal library, on an old chair by the window where she'd used to teach her magic tricks to Loki when he was young. Frigga looked up at Thor shortly before she went back to her needlework.

"What has changed your mood so drastically in such few minutes, my son?" she asked.

"I think you know," Thor gruffed as he went to stand by her. "You've forbidden me from seeing Jane!"

Frigga huffed as she placed her needlework on the table and looked up at Thor.

"I've forbidden you to leave Asgård, not from seeing Jane," she corrected.

"And why is that? What is happening in Midgård which you won't let me know about? Is it Loki?"

"Your father is about to fall into the Odinsleep."

Thor narrowed his eyes but calmed his temper quickly. The dark clouds outside perished to let the sunshine through.

"He has not told me of it."

"He would tell you soon enough. But for now you can not leave Asgård, you must be here when it happens."

"He sent me to Svartalfheim just a fortnight ago--"

"To ensure that there wouldn't be a war with Nidavellir and you handled it perfectly, my son. Diplomatically and quickly, as a king should."

Thor looked down at his hands for a moment before meeting Frigga's gaze.

"Jane has called for me. It has been difficult to keep away from her but even more so now."

"It is always difficult to be seperated from someone you love," Frigga said with a sad smile which Thor couldn't help but to think was meant for Loki. "Jane will return here in a few days time, is that not so? By then Odin will be asleep and you will rule the nine realms in his stead. A few precious moments on Midgård with your loved one is something that must be sacrificed for a greater cause. You knew that when you made the choice to wed her."

Thor let out a heavy sigh. He wanted to be king, more than anything, but he'd also expected to have more say on how and where to spend his time with Jane. Especially considering the short time they had together.

He sat down on the floor by Frigga's feet and leaned his head onto her lap. She gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"Have you heard..." he mumbled after a moment, not quite sure how to phrase it. "Loki's child..."

"Stillborn," Frigga finished sadly. "Heimdall sent word to me when it happened. My poor boy..."

"He is not the boy you used to know."

"He will always be my little troublemaker."

Thor had at first thought it would be strange for them to ever talk about Loki again, after what he had done to him, but with time they could touch upon the subject briefly. Frigga had been furious with him when she had found out and he had been avoiding her out of shame. Only a few days before his wedding to Jane, she had come to him for reconciliation and even though she would not forgive him, she could understand somewhat why he had done it. She had still not let Odin back to her good graces for punishing her precious Loki in this way though.

Thor reached up to grasp his mother's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He stood up and kissed her cheek before he left to talk with Odin.

Frigga looked out the window as she thought of her little Loki. She'd made Odin agree to fall into his Sleep, to keep both him and Thor away from matters concerning Loki and while it couldn't last forever, atleast he'd have a few more days of semi-freedom. It wasn't much but that's all she could do for him. She could only pray that his mental state hadn't completely broken in the years that had already passed, that there was still some hope left for him. She desperately wanted to take it as a good sign that he'd done nothing to the Man of Iron as of yet.

 

***

 

Loki had woken up with a shiver when dark heavy clouds had gathered on the sky and blocked out the warmth of the sun. He focused his hearing to try and keep track of Stark, he felt his anxiety growing when he couldn't hear anything but then there was a sudden clatter of metal coming from the basement and Loki huffed out a breath. He glanced up at the sky. The clouds promised a stormy night and he put his arms around himself as he went inside to take a shower.

He ate his dinner alone, then went to train more with the robo-frog. Stark was determined to keep bashing things to oblivion even as evening approached and the first rumbling sounds of thunder could be heard in the distance. Loki tried hard to keep from hyperventilating, he kept his focus on the sounds coming from the basement and even considered going down there to watch Stark, but instead only shook his head to clear it from his ridiculous and irrational thoughts. If Thor was coming for him, he'd already be here, there was no need for Loki to panic. The thoughts did nothing to calm his racing heart, though.

He let out an angry growl as he stalked to the bathroom to douse his face with cold water. That helped more than any rational and logical thinking seemed to do, which only frustrated him further. He glared at himself in the mirror, hating the weak pathetic thing he had become. His fingers itched with the urge to rip apart the collar that kept him so but he knew it was futile.

Loki walked back out to the living room but stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed that Stark had made his way up, jacket over his arm and twirling the car keys in his hand.

"You're leaving again?"

"A man has needs," Tony replied shortly.

Loki narrowed his eyes with determination as he approached him.

"And those needs can't be taken care of here?" He kept on walking, forcing Tony to take a few steps back until the back of his knees hit the couch and he sat down heavily.

"I really need to get out of here," Tony admitted as he looked up at Loki.

Loki hummed as he glanced down at the man, then swiftly moved to straddle his lap. Tony let out a startled noise but didn't fight him.

"And I really need you here with me," Loki murmured softly, his eyes bright and pleading. "I'll give you anything you want."

Tony raised his eyebrows. Had he knocked his head on something down in the basement or was this actually happening? Loki was just fucking with his head, right?

Loki moved one of his hands to the bulge in Stark's jeans as he leaned in to gently bite his earlobe.

"Would you have me beg?" he moaned with that low delicious voice of his like a god damn purr and Tony couldn't help but to buck his hips in an attempt to get that hand more firmly onto himself.

"Begging on your knees sounds like a good place to start," he groaned as Loki licked along the shell of his ear while his slender fingers undid the button and zipper to release his semi-hard dick from its confinements.

Loki leaned back with a hum. He looked pointedly down at his knees on either side of Tony's hips before meeting his eyes with a small smirk and a raised eyebrow and okay yeah, Tony had to admit that it could pass as kneeling, technically speaking. As for the other part...

"Please, Stark," Loki moaned as his long fingers wrapped around Stark's dick.

Tony could barely breathe. His every instinct told him to _get up, get out, something was way off, danger ahead, Loki can't want this,_ but having a thousand-year old god straddling you and basically beg you for sex kind of did strange things to a man's ego, and if it wasn't enough to get a man fully hard and desperate for more Tony didn't know what would. He thrust up into Loki's fist, his dry hand uncomfortable but irresistable at the same time.

"Why?"

"Like you said. Men have needs."

"If you have a need for this, then why aren't you hard?"

He held his breath, preparing to have Loki and his hand leave him alone to finish this himself. Loki halted his movements for just a tiny moment, barely enough to be noticed if not for the slightly jarring stroke on his cock, but it told Tony plenty. Loki had been caught offguard. Tony had seen through his act.

It didn't take long for him to recover, though. Barely a second had passed after Tony's question before Loki leaned in to whisper seductively against his ear.

"Because you're not touching me."

All the warning bells that had sounded the alarm in Tony's head suddenly went dead quiet as he let himself be persuaded. He placed his hands on the sides of Loki's body and he could feel him shiver underneath his touch. Out of lust, Tony hoped, and not disgust or fear. He kept his touches light and on safe ground just in case, and was just about to ask if he truly was ready to do this when Loki growled in annoyance and dragged one of Tony's hands down to his crotch and Tony supposed that was a good enough hint of what Loki wanted.

He pressed his hand gently down to cup a feel through the soft material of Loki's sweatpants. Loki drew in a breath and pushed up slightly into his hand. Tony pulled down the sweatpants as far as he could to take out Loki's limp cock, his fingertips softly stroked it until it began to harden.

Loki gathered up Tony's pre-come onto his fingers to make them slide easier, and when Tony was slick enough he thrusted up against him. They both let out a groan at the contact. Loki bit his lip with a hiss as his hand closed around the both of them and increased the speed of his strokes.

The thunder boomed loudly and Loki shivered and pressed slightly closer to Stark. He felt ridiculous for still feeling nervous about the damn _weather_ and focused harder on Stark's touches, their cocks rubbing together, making Loki gasp as he thrust up against Stark's. Stark was here with him. That was all that mattered. He just had to continue losing himself in the here and now.

It hurt him to move his pelvis too much so he had to resign to sit back and keep still as much as possible and let his and Tony's hands do most of the work. Tony let his free hand roam under Loki's shirt to stroke one of his nipples. Loki bit back a whimper as his own free hand moved from Stark's shoulder to grip at the back of his neck, his nails digging in to the flesh short of breaking it. Stark smirked and twisted the nipple as his other hand gently pinched Loki's cock right underneath the head.

Tony let his index finger run over the head of Loki's cock, gathering a few drops of pre-come on it to indulge his curiousity. It looked pretty much the same as his but felt like it had a thicker consistency when he pressed it gently against his thumb. Rubbing his fingers together proved though that it was easier to glide than with human semen.

Loki's hand closed tightly around their cocks and they gasped in unison. Tony thrust up into Loki's hand, up against Loki's cock, and he still wasn't sure if this was actually real because holy shit any man with some sense of self-preservation wouldn't do this like ever. His hand returned to its place around their cocks together with Loki's as he spread more of Loki's pre-come over them, making them slide even easier. His other hand moved from one nipple to the other, giving it a pinch just as the other hand closed around Loki's cock head just so.

Tony couldn't stop watching Loki's face. It was one of the most fascinating things he'd ever seen, how Loki shut his eyes tight and panted harshly through slightly opened lips, his cheeks flushed red as he was overcome with pleasure.

Their slick cocks were gliding against one another faster and faster. Loki came first, he leaned his head against Tony's shoulder as he let out a whimper. His body stiffened but his hand kept up its unrelenting movement all through it.

The sight and sound of him were enough to drive Tony over the edge. He pumped up into Loki's fist with vigor as he came.

They remained seated like that for a while as they could do nothing but breathe. Loki was shaking and still slumped over Tony, who subconsciously ran his hands over Loki's back in a comforting manner.

Loki felt completely boneless and it took him far too long to recover than he would have liked, had he had any energy left to care. It had been years since he had experienced an orgasm. He hadn't felt the need to touch himself after his recent experiences or bothered to waste his energy on getting himself off during the past week, and finding himself unable to even lift his head from Stark's shoulder reminded him of why. But this had felt necessary, even though he hadn't expected to accept another's touch in ages to come he needed Stark with him, have Iron Man close enough to protect him if SHIELD would catch up. Having Stark drunk at some bar or fucking some girl wouldn't do him any favors.

He let Stark continue to touch him however he pleased as his pulse slowly started to return to normal.

"You still want to leave," Loki panted when he regained his ability to speak, "or do you want to go for another round?"

"Think you're gonna need a few more minutes there, Snowflake," Tony said with a loopsided grin as he brought his hand back down to stroke Loki's oversensitive dick.

Loki hissed and swatted Stark's hand away.

"Wanna head upstairs?" Tony asked after awhile.

"No, this right here is good."

"Never expected you to be a cuddler."

Loki could hear the smirk on the other's lips and almost groaned with annoyance. He placed his hands on Stark's shoulders to steady himself as he leaned back to get off of the man. He gave Stark a small playful smirk before he turned to head up the stairs. Tony wasn't late to follow.

Loki entered Stark's bedroom and promptly laid back on the bed. Tony shimmied gracelessly out of his jeans and underwear before he plopped down next to him. His hands were roaming along the sides of Loki's body as he leaned down to lick and kiss at the exposed skin between the t-shirt and the collar. It would take him some time to be able to get erect again, he might as well spend that time exploring the body in front of him.

His hands drifted down to Loki's waist to grab a hold of the sweatpants and he could feel Loki hesitate slightly before he lifted his hips to help Tony get them off, giving Tony more skin to touch. He didn't make any move to take Loki's come-stained shirt off; he was keeping his own on as well because he sure as hell didn't trust Loki enough to let him get a close up look at the arc reactor in his chest.

He took his time with letting his hands roam over Loki's incredibly long legs before he glanced up at Loki's face, needing to hear his consent again.

"Anything I want, right?"

Loki's face was unreadable, but he replied 'yes' with a steady voice.

Tony leaned down and put his lips against the flaccid length of Loki's cock. For _**science**_.

Loki gasped in surprise and threw his head back. Tony kissed and licked along the shaft until he reached the head. A small lick at the slit proved that Loki's semen tasted just like humans; salty and bitter. He kept licking and kissing until Loki started to harden again, then put the head into his mouth.

Loki cried out loud and grabbed a fistful of Tony's hair in his hands but didn't push him to take more. Tony hummed with appreciation as his tongue swirled against the slit, drawing the most delicious noises out of the god. He swallowed a few drops of pre-come and as his right hand stroked the length, the left hand gently squeezed and played with Loki's balls for a few minutes before reaching down to stroke himself into hardness.

When Tony felt himself starting to leak drips of pre-come onto the sheets, he gave Loki one final lick before moving up and away. Loki seized the opportunity to catch his breath as he watched Tony grab a bottle of lotion from his night table. Tony poured out a decent amount into his hand before he laid down beside Loki. He guided Loki to roll onto his side facing him, then pushed their hips close to let their cocks slide together within Tony's slick fist.

Loki thrust up hard on instinct but let out an annoyed hiss as he got reminded to keep as still as possible. His hand went to join Tony's instead. Their legs intertwined as they shifted even closer. Tony couldn't help himself, he leaned in to suck and nibble on the skin over Loki's collarbone, determined to leave a mark there. Loki's breath was hot against his ear, and the noises he made was almost enough for Tony to bite down, but he managed to stop himself and nibbled harder instead.

Tony completely lost track of time. They could have been frotting like that for hours for all he knew, but suddenly there was a slight movement and a pair of wet lips against his temple. It took his mind a disturbingly long time to catch up, but as the lips continued to trail down the side of his face to behind his ear, he finally realised. Loki was kissing him. Butterfly-like kisses mixed with softly moaned words in a language Tony didn't recognise.

Loki's hand had left its place on their cocks to wander up Tony's back beneath his shirt, to caress the skin and push the man even closer to himself. Tony increased the pace of his stroking and thrusting and Loki sought out his mouth, giving him a passionate kiss as he chased his climax.

Loki came first, again. He whimpered Stark's name into Tony's mouth as he spent his load over Tony's hand. Tony kissed Loki deeply as his hand hurried to bring himself off. He came with a loud groan and slumped down on the bed. When he'd caught his breath he noticed the state his hand was in. He pulled a face and moved to get out of the bed.

"I'll get you a washcloth."

"Mm, good. Very sticky," Loki mumbled against his pillow.

Tony grabbed a clean t-shirt with him before he went to get a quick shower, his mind comfortably lulling in a post-sex haze. Once he deemed himself clean enough, he brought a wet cloth back to Loki, but halted when he noticed the other was asleep. Loki looked completely worn out. Tony sat down next to him and cleaned up his hands and body, then covered him with the duvet.

He sighed and looked out the window. The storm had increased in strength and the rain hammered against his window. It didn't stop him from still wanting to leave, to just get in his car and drive off to the nearest bar. He made to get out of bed and follow his restless urges when the rumbling sound of thunder was heard and Loki shivered and curled in on himself in his sleep. Tony found himself unable to leave Loki alone after this, after knowing why he – even in his sleep – reacted so strongly against thunder. He--

Oh.

"You dirty little trickster," Tony mumbled.

He didn't know at first if he should feel used or not, if _he_ had used Loki or not. Had Loki even wanted it or had only taken such desperate measures just to keep Tony with him? He could still feel the ghost touch of Loki's kisses on his skin though, and as messed up as Loki was he wouldn't give away intimate things like that without meaning them, would he?

Tony rubbed his face hard. He needed a drink. He pulled on a pair of new underwear and jeans and left the room to head to the lounge where he'd left a bottle of scotch. Drinking and smashing away at stuff in the basement, that was how he would spend the night because he couldn't bring himself to leave Loki home alone.

When had he turned into such a considerate sap?

 

***

 

It was early morning when it happened. At first he thought he had just imagined it, that the sounds of his scrap smashing had somehow played a trick on him, but when he halted his movements and strained his ears, he knew what was happening.

He swore under his breath as he dropped everything and rushed out, taking the stairs two steps at a time then burst out through the doors to the backyard. His suit soon followed and attached itself to his body, covering him as he prepared for battle.

The Quinjet lowered down to prepare for landing. The hatch opened and Captain America jumped out to land before him.

"You're trespassing on private property," Tony shouted at him and reached up a hand, ready to blast the Captain if he needed to.

"Stand down, Stark," Steve ordered. His shield was still on his back and his stance showed that he seemed unwilling to fight. "We do not want to fight you. We're here for Loki."

Tony glanced at the jet as it finally landed and spotted Natasha. Hawkeye must have dropped off earlier to guard the front of the house. It was a three-man team; Tony could beat them.

"Sorry, pal. No can do."

He fired off his repulsor at Steve before he quickly flew to tackle Natasha, but just as he was about to reach her he was thrown to the ground as Steve's shield hit him hard. Natasha continued her way into the house as Steve kept Tony distracted with punches and kicks while trying not to get blasted into pieces by Tony's weapons.

 

***

 

Loki groaned as he woke and stretched out on the bed. _Stark's_ bed. He sat up and scratched the back of his head as he yawned. He was just about to get up but froze as he heard the sounds of a powerful jet engine. Too close, too low to be an ordinary aircraft. He instinctively knew what it was and his heart rate sped up as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He almost lashed out in self defense when the box in the corner of Stark's room moved and flew out the window to unveil itself as the Iron Man suit and attach itself to its creator, as if by magic.

Loki quickly pulled on his sweatpants and, careful to not be spotted through any windows, he made his way downstairs, making sure his steps were light and swift. He knew that Agent Barton would be watching for him, but he should be able to dodge any arrows sent his way long enough to escape into the woods, where he'd be less of an open target.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw him.

The green beast was standing in the hallway, his back turned slightly towards him as he breathed heavily and sniffed the air.

Loki couldn't move. He was paralyzed with fear. He couldn't breathe.

His mind was screaming at him to move, run away, hide, fight, and slowly he regained control over his limbs. He slowly backed a few steps but the beast had heard him. The Hulk spotted him and Loki turned and ran for the open lounge doors.

The Hulk roared and set after him, one giant leap, two, then he grabbed Loki and threw him face first against the floor and bent down over him. Loki screamed in anger and terror as he fought to break free but the beast had him in a secure grip as he lowered his head to sniff at him.

" _Mine!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY it took me well over a month to write this chapter!!! It was fighting me all the way through it, it feels like I had to rewrite every single scene because it wouldn't come out right. I'm not even sure this final outcome is what I wanted it to be but here it is!
> 
> Here's a blooper scene to show you what troubles Loki and Tony kept giving me:  
> <http://xyanide-fics.tumblr.com/post/98660569656/bright-lights-deleted-scene-blooper>  
> I mean... really??! Ugh!
> 
> Edit: For those of you wondering what the heck is up with Loki and where the Loki/Tony sex came from all of a sudden, please read the comments below, hopefully it might make some sort of sense? :)  
> They WILL talk about what happened in an upcoming chapter. Tony knows very well in hindsight that Loki wasn't completely willing. Loki did it in desperation to keep Tony with him but he found it more enjoyable than he'd ever expected. It doesn't excuse the fact that it did happen though.  
> (and I agree that while I intended for Loki to be pushy and demanding and for Tony to forget himself and give in, I could have written it much better. my bad.)


	11. Chapter 11

When Bruce Banner had first been approached with the suggestion to try scent manipulation he'd scoffed at the idea. He knew how it worked, how stores, hotels, even freaking Disneyland used scent branding to urge their customers to buy this or that or feel like they were in a completely different location than they actually were, but to have scents actually affect the Hulk? No, Bruce didn't believe it would work. SHIELD Agent Clarke, a sweet British young woman, had meant well and she insisted on atleast giving it a try, and after what had happened on the Helicarrier, wouldn't it be good to know there was something that could halt the Hulk's rage, even if the solution was too simple to be deemed worthy the slightest glance?

She had handed him an entire essay going into the smallest detail on how scent branding worked and how it affected people by cleverly working into one's subconscious because one couldn't see or feel it.

If SHIELD could find the right scent that Bruce always connected with safety and serenity, it should work on bringing the Hulk back into Bruce whenever the scents triggered the right memories in his brain.

After reading Agent Clarke's report Bruce had to admit that it did sound like an interesting idea after all, but the very thought of letting SHIELD get into his head like that was unnerving. He'd be better off trying to find the right scent on his own, or team up with Betty.

Clarke had been disappointed to not be a part of the project but had told him that if that was his decision, she still wished him the best of luck.

"But just in case you change your mind," she had added, "SHIELD has rooms strong enough to contain the Hulk if it wouldn't work out. And we're more than happy to let Miss Ross join the project, just as long as it results in you being able to change back to yourself, and with no civilians getting hurt in a Hulk rampage."

Bruce had talked with Betty and Tony about it as he weighed his options. Betty would join him for the first couple of tests to make sure things were done properly, to not have Bruce or the Hulk taken advantaged of, and Tony had been given all the information about the agents involved.

In preparation, Bruce had given Clarke a list of things that he thought smelled nice and safe. Vanilla, cinnamon, lavender, sandalwood, cotton candy, a newly opened book, Betty's schampoo, Betty's perfume, Betty... The list went on and on, and hopefully something would manage to come out of it.

The first test had him anxiously pacing around. He had sniffed at the scent and agreed that it felt very relaxing, then he had been showed into a containing room while Betty had followed Clarke to the safety of the observation room above. Bruce had urged the Other Guy out, and while it was a controllable Hulk instead of an angry one, it was a good way to begin the experiments just to see if the scent would go through to him.

With an affirmative nod from Betty, Clarke had let out the scent in the room like a gas through the air ducts. It had taken almost ten minutes, with adding some increased levels of the scent, but finally Bruce was beginning to return to himself without conscious effort. Betty had immediately rushed down to join him and hold him close. There was a peaceful presence about him, instead of the aggravated or confused state he usually found himself in. He had looked up with her with a grin.

"It worked...!"

 

There had been plenty of tests. Different things added or removed to get a quicker reaction, notions of a dosage increase to break through to a raging Hulk. Bruce and Betty had both felt more comfortable with Clarke and the tests, because in the end they were striving for the same result. Bruce even started to come to the tests without Betty whenever her work at Culver in Virginia had left her tied up and unable to join him in Boston, and when Bruce found himself not locked up for good whenever he awoke, he became more sure that he'd made the right choice in the end.

He was an Avenger. He'd saved the planet from aliens. SHIELD wouldn't go through all of this trouble only to lock him up _now_ , not when they'd have the Avengers on their backs to get him free.

Eventually Agent Clarke had to leave the project as she was needed at SHIELD's UK base, but her replacement Agent Bosworth, whom had been Clarke's assistant right from the start, proved to be just as easy and smooth to work with.

There were surveillance tapes of all his tests, so he could see the process for himself. The tests continued to go wonderfully, and eventually there were even a few that had almost made him feel sated, like there had been a hunger deep down that had been filled. He never really found out what that had been about, the tapes had showed nothing out of the ordinary, but when he had woken up he had felt more relaxed than he could remember being for a long time.

He had even experimented with the scent at home, to see if he could finally make love to Betty without changing into the Other Guy whenever his heart rate increased. He hadn't been sure about putting Betty in such a situation but she had encouraged him; if it worked then they could finally make love again, and if it didn't and Bruce couldn't calm down in time, she knew that the Hulk wouldn't hurt her.

It had failed every time, which was why Bruce had been unsure about using it on missions. He needed to know he could rely on it if a situation would arise where the Other Guy would show up without Bruce's consent. _That_ was the Hulk he couldn't get a control over after all, and he wouldn't want to give his team mates false hopes and perhaps even put them in harm's way while they were trying to get the scent through to him.

But this time was different. This time would be the ultimate test. He'd felt it in his very bones, that he'd need all he could get if Loki was involved. He didn't know why, perhaps the Hulk was still angry over the Battle, but every time Loki's name had been mentioned the last week Bruce had felt a shiver along his spine, like the Hulk was ready to break through at any moment.

Steve had been the one to approach him about the mission once they'd located Tony's current alias and whereabouts.

"How do you feel about this, Bruce?" he'd asked. "We could really use your help if Loki's got his powers back. The Hulk's pretty much the only one able to bring him down."

Bruce had sighed and dragged a hand down his face. He hadn't planned to go along, but Steve did have a point. If Tony had removed Loki's collar, if Tony was under Loki's spell, it would have been too much for Steve, Natasha and Clint to handle on their own.

He had to agree to come along. As the rest of the team suited up, he'd gone to his room to gather the so-called 'scent bombs' he'd acquired from the latest test run. They were the size of half his fist, and as they were still prototypes they needed to be crushed near his face to get most of the powder into his nose. Just the mere thought of Loki made him want to use one at that very moment, but he shook his head harshly and brought them with him to the hangar on the top floor, where they kept the Quinjet.

He'd handed them to his team mates without a word. They knew what they were and how they were to be used and why, and especially how much it meant to Bruce to decide to try them in battle now.

 

When they had been approaching Tony's villa, Clint and Bruce had jumped out first. Clint would hijack a car – in the name of world security, of course – and bring them to the location before the others would announce their arrival to lure away Tony.

Clint had cracked open the front gates for Bruce before he took off to climb up a tree to get the perfect vantage point. Bruce had taken a deep breath before he entered the house. The plan was that Steve would keep Tony occupied in the back, while Natasha would try to get Loki. The Hulk would be used in emergency, and Clint would keep watch in case the fugitive tried to escape.

Well, that _had been_ the plan. Bruce had almost toppled over when he'd entered the house, the strong scent of Loki caused the Other Guy to desperately want to break through. Bruce had tried to hold him back but had been overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of it, and before he knew it the world went black.

The Hulk was left standing in his place, breathing in deeply as if trying to etch the scent into his lungs. That scent. Loki. His mate. He was here.

As if on cue, Hulk turned his head to see his mate standing in front of him. Loki turned away from him and Hulk roared as he set off after him. He grabbed one of Loki's arms and threw him into the ground to halt him, then leaned over him and buried his nose against Loki's neck and inhaled.

Loki didn't smell the way he used to, there wasn't the overpowering urge to dominate him and fill him up with his seed, on the contrary Hulk seemed to notice the scent of _another_ linger on Loki's skin. He sniffed down Loki's back and the _other's_ scent got stronger. Hulk growled in anger and jealousy and pressed Loki harder down to the floor.

" _Mine!_ "

Hulk grabbed at Loki's sweatpants and pulled them down to his thighs, but stopped momentarily as Loki kicked at him. Why was his mate kicking? He placed one of his own legs over them to keep them still as he thrust his crotch against his mate's backside. Loki didn't smell like he was in heat, but he'd take him, show him who he belonged to, they were back together now and Loki wouldn't ever need to wander off to someone else again.

 

***

 

Natasha had played through several different scenarios in her head during the flight. Most of them consisted of Loki being the powerful otherworldly deity hellbent on destroying the Earth in revenge, with Iron Man as his minion. She had never even been close enough to even consider what she just witnessed in front of her. She couldn't even seem to grasp it at first, as she came to an abrupt halt by the patio doors.

She needed to act quick and think later.

She shut the doors quietly behind her and walked forward with wary steps, her hands lifted to show she was unarmed as she approached the Hulk, who was rutting against a thrashing and screaming Loki.

"Bruce..."

"He's _mine!!!_ " Hulk roared at her and she paused momentarily in fright before taking another slow step forward. " _My_ mate!"

"He is yours, I'm not going to take him away from you," she said gently. "I am your friend, remember?"

Loki looked up at her with wide, panic-stricken eyes before he continued to fight back and scream his lungs out. She spotted the red collar around his neck, his magic was still bound. Tony Stark hadn't freed him. She glanced back over her shoulder to the backyard where Steve and Tony were still fighting. Hopefully, whoever won would have the common sense to stop by the shut doors and not crash through them and risk upsetting the Hulk even more.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she desperately wanted to stay out of the Hulk's way, but for Bruce's sake she had to put a stop to this. And as loathe as she was to help Loki, she couldn't let him suffer through rape. She took a deep breath to keep her calm facade as she went down on her knees to make her stature as small and unimposing as possible.

"Bruce," Natasha tried again. "I need you to focus. Look at what you gave me."

"Not now!" Hulk snarled in annoyance as he thrust harder against Loki before reaching down to tear at his own trousers.

"Yes now. It's really important. It's good for your mate as well, it will make this easier for the both of you."

Hulk wanted to shove her aside but when she started talking about Loki he tried to focus. He should make things good for his mate. He stopped his rutting to glance at her. She was holding a strange round item in her hand. She approached as carefully as she dared as she held it towards his face. Her hand slowly closed around the scent bomb to crush it.

"Breathe this in, as much as you can, and you will feel much better," she cooed. "Loki will feel much better, too."

Hulk did as she suggested. One deep inhale after another. There didn't seem to be any effect and Loki was still fighting as hard as he could manage to get away while babbling pleads with a broken voice. Natasha almost wanted to kick him to make him stop moving and shut up and stop bringing attention to himself.

"That's it," she encouraged Hulk instead as she brought forth another scent bomb and crushed it. "Keep breathing it all in. Even deeper now, Bruce."

Hulk started to get agitated, he wanted to go back to reclaiming his mate, but the woman was insistent and the scent... he couldn't stop focusing on it no matter how much he wanted to. It made him think of the other woman, Betty. Her gentle smile and sweet face and supporting love. Natasha kept talking to him, encouraging him to breathe in more and more, until finally it was like something broke.

Bruce managed to take control.

As soon as Natasha saw the transformation, she hurriedly brought forth one of the syringes she'd gotten from Fury. Loki tried to get away from her but she quickly jammed the needle into his arm and injected him with a few drops, before removing it and throwing it aside so the others wouldn't be able to get it and use it against her. It didn't take long before Loki's pleads died down and his body fell limp against the floor, beneath Bruce's.

Natasha stayed completely still for a moment, uncertain at first if she had actually succeeded or if the Hulk would snap back, but when Bruce groaned and opened his eyes she quickly moved closer to him and gently rubbed a hand between his shoulder blades.

"Hey. Hey Bruce, it's me. Keep your eyes on me. I need you to remain calm."

He looked so confused and started to turn his head to look at what he was lying upon, but Natasha quickly grabbed the sides of his face to still him.

"No, keep your eyes on me," she repeated. "Trust me, Bruce. Grab my arms."

He reached out for her and she pulled him up to a standing position. He blushed as his trousers fell down to his ankles and bent down to pull them up. She made sure he wouldn't see what was lying behind him.

"What happened?" he asked. "Did I... Did I hurt anybody?"

"Deep breaths," she said instead of answering him as she guided him out through the front door. "Steve is still fighting Tony, but he's not mind controlled. Loki is still collared."

She made him sit down on the steps, then waved her arms as a signal to Clint; Loki had been taken care of, Clint would move on to check on the fight between Steve and Tony before he would join her. She then quickly went into the kitchen to fetch Bruce a glass of water.

Bruce shivered at the mention of Loki's name but fought back the urge to give into the Hulk. Natasha noticed his struggles and handed him another scent bomb, which he quickly crushed and inhaled.

"They worked, after all," she said with a short smile.

"You need to tell me what happened."

"I'm not sure you're ready to hear it just yet. We can't have the Hulk on a rampage here, we need you to be in control."

Bruce looked down at the glass of water.

"Is it that bad?"

Her silence told him enough. He put his face in his hands and groaned.

"I didn't kill anybody, did I?"

"No."

He wasn't sure if her answer comforted him. He grabbed the glass of water and drank it all down in one go. Natasha went to refill it.

"I need you to sit here and be calm while I go and take care of things, okay?"

Bruce nodded and began his breathing exercises. Natasha left him and headed inside to Loki.

The man laid where they'd left him. She checked his pulse and his breathing for anything irregular before moving to drag his sweatpants up. The Hulk had called him his mate, and from his actions and more importantly, Loki's reaction, they'd done this before. She just couldn't pinpoint _when_. It certainly hadn't been during the Battle, but afterwards Loki had remained in SHIELD's custody under strict supervision. Something was terribly off.

She opened the patio doors and walked out into the garden. Tony tried to blast Steve, who answered by punching him into the ground. An arrow hit its mark on Tony's arm and gave a small explosion, enough to break apart the gauntlet but not cause any major injury to the man or his arc reactor. A closer look revealed that the other gauntlet had already been destroyed in the same manner.

"Enough, Tony!" Natasha called out. "Game's over. We need to talk about Loki."

"I'm not handing him over to you, if that's what you want to discuss!" Tony answered as he stiffly moved to stand up while his suit prepared to fire off tiny rockets.

Natasha came to stand before him and crossed her arms over her chest, her stance authorative.

"What do you know about him and the Hulk?"

The question caught Tony offguard. He went still for a moment before he opened his face plate.

"You brought Bruce here?"

Bruce must have gone into position with Clint before Natasha had used the Quinjet as a distraction, Tony had simply assumed that Bruce hadn't been brought along.

"Motherfuck...!"

He made to move to the villa, but Steve put his arms around him to keep him still. He fought against Steve's hold while Natasha tried to talk to him.

"Loki and Bruce are safe, nothing happened. But you need to tell us what's been going on."

"What the fuck did the Hulk do?" Tony demanded instead.

Natasha held his gaze for a moment before she answered. There was a slight shake in her voice that betrayed how on edge she still was over what she'd prevented.

"He tried to claim his mate, but I got there before he could. The scent bombs brought Bruce back. I brought him out to the front, he doesn't know anything. Loki's knocked out. Calm down now, Tony. Talk, we'll listen."

She gave a short nod to Steve, who reluctantly let go and backed off a step. Clint had made his way to them and stood a bit behind Natasha, his bow ready to be used in case Tony tried anything.

Tony stared at the patio doors for a long moment before he gave in. He let his broken suit disassemble before walking towards his villa, with the Avengers flanking him. Once inside, he spotted Loki on the smashed floor. He wanted to go check on him but stood still, he didn't want to show the affection he'd come to have for Loki in front of his team. His old team. He wasn't sure if he was an Avenger anymore.

Natasha murmured something to Steve, who went to lift Loki from the floor to settle him into a chair. Clint brought forth a rope and tied Loki securely to it, with Tony watching oddly intently. Natasha took advantage of his distraction to discreetly retrieve the syringe from where she'd thrown it earlier.

"Hulk knocked him out," she lied. "Should Bruce be present for this conversation? He deserves to know as much as we do. More, even."

"I'm here," they heard a voice behind them.

They turned to watch Bruce standing by the doorway. Natasha moved towards him to guide him back outside as the others followed. Tony grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass from the cabinet before he joined them. He definitely needed a drink if he was going to talk about all that mess.

"I need to know what's been going on," Bruce said with a shaky voice as he sat back down on the steps, "why the Other Guy has reacted so strongly to-- to _him_. Just by hearing his name I've felt him trying to take over."

Tony could only stare at him for a long moment. His heart felt like it was about to break. Bruce had no idea what had happened and Tony couldn't decide if he felt more anger towards SHIELD for being such dicks or sadness for Bruce for being used so horribly. His mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to find a way to break it gently for his friend.

"You bred him," he blurted out at last and immediately wanted to kick himself in the ass when he saw Bruce's horrified look. The green rage monster didn't show himself so Tony figured it was best to continue. "Well, not _you_ you. Hulk you. SHIELD made Hulk breed him to get super babies. I mean, super soldier babies. They were going to build an army with a whole bunch of them."

He swallowed the drink in one go and poured himself another. His team mates were staring at him in silence for far too long.

"You're fucking joking," Clint snorted. "That's some ridiculous bullshit lies Loki fed you and you were stupid enough to believe it? He's a _guy_ , Stark. He can't get _bred_."

"I held the baby in my own fucking hands, Barton. How do you explain _that_?" Tony snarled back as he downed another drink. "Check his stomach, I had to cut him open to get it out. I'm traumatised for life."

Steve didn't want to believe Tony, he wanted to sigh and roll his eyes at the whole mess and order Tony to start telling the truth, but instead he went into the lounge and pushed up Loki's shirt to reveal his stomach. He had to lower the sweatpants a bit and stretch the skin slightly, but then he saw the scar. He traced it with his fingertip as he felt the colour drain from his face. He stumbled back out the front door and turned to his team mates with a horrified look as the thought that Tony might have actually told the truth slowly sank in.

"I have a baby?" Bruce asked quietly. His face was deathly pale and Tony couldn't meet his gaze.

"Where is it now?" Natasha wondered.

Tony busied himself for a moment by watching intently as he swirled the beverage around in the glass.

"She was stillborn," he confessed, his voice cracking at the last word. "I tried to revive her but it didn't work, and SHIELD were coming after us and I needed to patch Loki up." He took a deep breath before he found the courage to look at Bruce again. "You have another kid, in SHIELD's custody."

Bruce couldn't breathe. He had raped Loki twice? SHIELD had managed to use him like that several times without him even noticing? But how...

The anger was boiling inside of him and he let out an anguished yell as he clutched his head hard in his hands as he desperately tried to keep from hulking out. Steve quickly walked towards him with a scent bomb he'd kept. He and Natasha sat down on each side of Bruce and helped him to start his breathing exercises again, with the aid of the calming scent that would keep him grounded. The scent that SHIELD had produced for him while at the same time had managed to find a way to get the Other Guy to do what they wanted.

Bruce was shaking as memories of his childhood flashed before his eyes. His abusive father, his murdered mother, his own pain and suffering while growing up. He had desperately wanted a normal life with Betty, they'd even talked about maybe having kids someday, before the gamma radiation incident happened. He'd never wanted to become a father like this, through rape and abuse, to have a child grow up to become nothing more than a mindless soldier. He couldn't hold back the tears.

Natasha and Clint looked at each other for a long time, to the point where Tony was pretty sure they were able to communicate telepathically. They were SHIELD agents, and had been proud to be up until now.

"I don't want to believe it," Clint admitted after a moment. "Fury would have never allowed Bruce to be used like that. Not even Loki. I still want to believe he'd care about human rights."

"Human rights are for human beings," Natasha stated. "Loki isn't human. He's not from our world."

"Neither is Thor, and he's one of us", Steve added.

Clint snorted. Thor and Loki may have been brothers but they definitely weren't anything alike.

"That's because Thor is more humane than Loki."

Tony choked on his drink.

He coughed and wheezed and coughed some more and Clint had to walk over to pat his back. Natasha narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Is Thor aware of exactly what's been done to his brother?"

"Oh yeah, he knows alright," Tony managed to get out inbetween coughs. He'd leave Thor's involvement at that, for now. "So I'd very much appreciate if you didn't go around and call for him, because he'd bring Loki back there because that's what their daddy sentenced Loki to and yeah, Loki should get punished, but not like this. Can everyone agree on that part, atleast?!"

They were all silent as they looked at each other.

"How did you find him?" Steve asked after a few minutes.

Steve and Natasha had both been present when Tony had put the finished collar on a sleeping Loki at Triskelion, SHIELD's headquarter in Washington, but that certainly couldn't have been where Loki would have been kept during the...'breeding'. There were too many agents milling about for such an operation to be carried out in secrecy. That must have been taking place elsewhere, and since Bruce's experimentations had taken place in Boston, that was the most probable location.

"I put some stuff in that collar, including a port to access it from my workshop but SHIELD had dislocated it. I happened to be in Boston when the tracker went off and I followed it down to his holding cell to check up on it and he was tied down to a bed and fucking _pregnant_!" Tony reached for the bottle but Clint was quicker, making the billionaire let out a frustrated whine as he slapped at Clint's hand to release it but the archer brought the bottle directly to his own mouth instead, the bastard.

"How is he?" Natasha asked. "Mentally, I mean."

"I don't know, I'm not a psychiatrist. He's trying to act tougher than he is, but he's skittish and paranoid and even fucking clingy at times." Like last night and oh god the guilt was starting to set in. He should've known better than to give in like that no matter how tempting Loki had been. "He told me he'd been kept isolated and tied down for years, he couldn't even sit upright without support when I released him." He glanced over to the door, as if he could see through it to where Loki was tied to a chair, then sighed and rubbed his face hard. "He's going to freak out when he wakes up like that."

"Isolation and immobility can be used as torture," Clint mused. "Especially with the addition of a blindfold, it's a very quick and effective way to break down prisoners. It seems to work on Asgardians too, if Loki really is as you describe him. If it's not just an act to make you pity him and remove the collar."

"The act would rather be when he pretends to still be strong and independent, because the last couple of days he's made sure to not stray too far away from me, almost obsessively, and I'm pretty damn sure he's not even aware of it himself. Is all that rope really necessary? He's not going to run off anywhere."

"The last thing he experienced before he blacked out was the Hulk trying to mate him," Natasha stated coldly, but gently rubbed her hand over Bruce's arm when he flinched at her words. "He needs to be tied down, if not for our safety then for his own."

"How does the collar work?" Steve asked as he tried to form a plan. "What keeps his magic away and why haven't he tried to remove it himself?"

Tony let out an almost relieved breath, because he was more comfortable with talking about the brilliance of his tech instead of Loki's experiences which had only made him feel like he had to drink himself into a stupor.

"It's a mixture of the Asgardian mumbo-jumbo runes on the big-ass shackles he had, and two Vanaheim crystals. Thor said they would be containing all traces of magic so nothing would slip through to him, and they would keep the collar unbreakable. They need to be destroyed in order to remove the collar but they're quite safe, layers on layers and all that. I added the function of giving him electric shocks every time his fingers strays too close to them or if he's trying to damage the collar in general and he's given up trying. There's a small device that lets me change the programming of everything.." He managed to stop himself just in time from spilling that in theory Tony should even be able to override the crystals to give Loki a touch of magic if he wanted to, but he figured the others would probably freak out quite bad over that possible loophole. "...but mostly I've just used it to track him."

And to give him electric shocks whenever Loki had tried to access his magic or fight during his years in captivity, but that wasn't necessary to tell. He'd disabled that part now anyway. The only way Loki would get electric shocks was if he tried to remove the collar, as Tony'd first planned.

Steve nodded and stood to attract everyones attention.

"This is what we'll do. Bruce, you'll go back to the Tower, or wherever you feel safe to be. Clint will go with you to keep you safe. Natasha, head over to Triskelion and find out everything you can. If anyone asks, you're on SHIELD's side. I'll stay with Tony and Loki."

"I can handle Loki well enough on my own--" Tony started but was interrupted by Steve.

"We were supposed to bring Loki to SHIELD, or they'd set out Abomination after him. Haven't Pepper told you, or have you simply forgotten?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah, the excitement over seeing you guys again kinda made me forget that part."

"He's strong. Incredibly strong. Which is why I won't take Loki back with us to the Tower because battling Abomination in New York is not an option. Ideally we'd have Bruce and Hulk here, but..."

"I want to be ready for that battle when it comes," Bruce decided. The others turned to look at him but no one said a word as they waited for him to continue. "For the things I've done to Loki... the very least I can do to make amends is to keep him from being taken back there. I can fight Blonsky if he finds us."

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked. "Do you think it's wise to be near...?"

"I know now why I've felt the Other Guy react the way he did. I'm not saying it will be easy but I know how to try and control it. I don't want to stay in the same house, or even in the same vicinity, but I wish to be nearby if Blonsky comes."

Steve held his gaze for a moment before he nodded.

"Clint will take you to a hotel in town. Any moment at all where you feel like you can't control it anymore, you'll go out of the state." He turned to look at Tony. "And 'Larry Paul', I suggest you find a new location for us asap. A fight between Iron Man and Captain America will have undoubtedly attracted unwanted attention."

Tony couldn't hold back a small smirk. Trust the good old Captain to have figured out his alias and tracked him down through it.

"I'll be right on it, Cap."

He entered the house but stopped briefly by the lounge to give Loki a quick look over before he continued to the basement where he'd left his StarkPad. Clint and Bruce went to their car, leaving Natasha and Steve alone.

"It sounds completely unbelievable," Steve muttered. He slowly shook his head as they walked over to their prisoner.

"I know what I saw," Natasha stated quietly as she bent to inspect the scar across Loki's lower abdomen. "And this definitely is a Cesarian cut."

She walked closer to Steve and lowered her voice to make sure Tony wouldn't overhear.

"I got these from Fury." She gave Steve one of the unused syringes. "Hulk didn't knock him out, I sedated him. One full dosage of this will leave him out cold for five days. I only injected a few drops, if my calculations are correct he should be asleep for a couple of hours. Fury told me that SHIELD used Loki to create strong enough sedatives for otherworldly enemies. Keep it close to your person, and don't let Tony or Loki know you have it, or what it can do. If they use it against you, it might kill you. Don't trust either of them; Loki might not have his magic but he can still have used his words to persuade Tony to do his bidding."

Steve held the syringe carefully in his hands as he stared down at the green liquid it contained. He put it away as he heard Tony's footsteps approaching. Tony looked at Loki's slumped body for a moment before turning towards Natasha. She raised an eyebrow at him while she waited for him to speak.

"If you do find out anything about the, you know," Tony began, "Loki's had two other kids as well. Not Hulk's. Just... try to keep an eye open on where they all are."

He left it at that as he walked over to the couch with his StarkPad to search for a new location. Natasha closed her eyes and rubbed her face as she willed herself to calm down. She desperately wished that these things had happened behind Director Fury's back, that he hadn't been a part of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all of you who hated Bruce.... please don't? :'(
> 
> This scene kept playing in my head from the very first moment I decided to write this fic  
>   
> credit: ikidtheenot ([reblog from here](http://xyanide-fics.tumblr.com/post/100725067121))
> 
> And have you all seen the Age of Ultron trailer yet? :D My Frostiron heart keeps waiting for Loki to show up and help Tony, but other than that it looks stunning!!!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO very sorry over the late update! :'( I never meant to leave this fic on hiatus for five months. Real life happened and then I had a very difficult time with getting back into writing mode...luckily most of this was already written, I just had to flesh it out and fill in some gaps. Thank you so very much to those of you who have asked about the fic, you have no idea how happy it made me that you were still thinking about it after all this time!!!!! :D
> 
> And THANK YOU to everyone for reading this, it's passed 20,000 hits and that's astonishing!!!!!

Agent Bosworth walked into the maximum security cells with confident steps, her high heels made a steady series of clicks against the floor as she took in the sight before her. The creature that was once Emil Blonsky was sitting in a brightly lit cell, empty bar a large sturdy block protruding from the wall to serve as a bed, with a thick mattress on top to add some slight comfort. As his nickname indicated, he looked like an abomination. He was large and hideous and permanently stuck in his monstruous form as he couldn't revert back to his human form, but unlike the Hulk he still had his wits.

She walked right up to the thick unbreakable window that seperated them and offered him a small smile.

"Mr. Blonsky," she greeted with a nod of her head.

"SHIELD agent," he greeted in return, his lips curling but whether it was in a sneer or attempt at a smile, Bosworth didn't know. "What gives me the honour of your visit?"

His dark voice was deep and rumbling and the words didn't quite manage to get pronounced correctly due to his inhuman lips.

"SHIELD, the US Government and the World Security Council have a proposition for you that we would really like for you to consider." She gestured towards the chair and small table on her side of the window. "May I?"

Blonsky stared at her for a moment before he gave a short nod. Bosworth sat down and crossed her legs as she placed her briefcase on the floor by her side.

"We need you to track down an individual and bring him back to us alive, in one piece."

"Why don't you hunt him down yourselves? SHIELD prides itself with having the top agents, do they not?"

"This man has powers out of this world," Bosworth started, to which Blonsky chuckled and looked demonstratively at himself. "He is not from Earth and is capable of using magic." Blonsky looked back at her with renewed interest. "We've had him in our custody twice and both times he's gotten help to escape by taking control over the minds of others. The one he's taken with him now is Iron Man. It is unclear at this point in time whether there are others; an agent is currently returning from a failed mission to bring him in and we have our suspicions that she might have lost her team mates to him."

"And you are not afraid that he would take control over my mind?"

Bosworth wanted to scoff but she was a professional high level agent, schooling her features to look calm and sincere wasn't a problem even in a situation like this.

"We reckon that your strength weighs more than his magic. His body is denser than a human's and as such he can take a lot of beating without breaking and our expectation is that you are able to subdue him long enough for us to lock him back up."

"It does sound like fun. But what is in it for me?"

Bosworth could feel the creature's eyes roam over her body but she didn't give any type of reaction to it.

"Freedom," she offered with a sweet smile. "Of sorts. If you help us recover this extremely dangerous criminal and we'll have him locked up and secure again, you'll be out of this cell, you'll do missions for the US Government. You'll be a war hero again. The World Security Council always supported you, and by helping us out there is not anything anyone could say to still keep you locked up in this cage."

Blonsky thought it over for a moment but honestly it wasn't a difficult choice to make. An eternity in his underground bunker or _freedom_.

"We have a deal."

Bosworth lifted her briefcase to the table next to her and opened it. She pulled out a holopad and activated it, making a huge holographic screen light up in the room with photos, video clips and information about Loki.

"The target's name is Loki. He is of Asgård, a place thought only to exist in Norse mythology until recently. He arrived to Earth some years ago with the intent of conquering it, with the help of an alien army. One of his powers is to make duplicates of himself but they seem to only be illusionary. His brother Thor is on our side but we haven't been able to contact Asgård to let them know of Loki's escape."

She observed Blonsky while he looked at the holoscreen, then decided to give him the last carrot.

"He is also the mate of Hulk."

Blonsky sharply turned his gaze towards hers, his eyes widened in surprise.

"The Hulk is very possessive about him, and although still unconfirmed, there is a chance that he's with him now as well. Sending SHIELD agents out after Loki would be nothing but a suicide mission. And this is where another idea comes into play." She looked him steadily in the eyes as she said the next words. "Loki has borne Hulk two children. He isn't from Earth and as such doesn't have our physiology. If you wish to, you can mate with him. He can take someone of your size, up to a point. And that should help us with the situation with the Hulk, if we could destroy the bonds he has to Loki by getting Loki with child by another."

Blonsky's eyes returned to the photos and video clips of Loki. The man certainly was good-looking enough and it wasn't like Blonsky could find a woman who could take him without being torn apart. And to so thoroughly dominate a god did have its appeal.

"The mission is to get Loki back to SHIELD, first and foremost," Bosworth reminded him. "Any fights with the Hulk, Iron Man or any others will be kept to minimum for now. You'll be free to decide what you want to do with the Hulk if you would encounter him in a future mission. And you can always stop by SHIELD to... relieve the urges you may have."

"Has SHIELD become a brothel? For creatures like myself to come and rape pesky criminals?" Blonsky let out a low and disturbing laugh. "I find it rich that a woman is speaking so warmly of rape, urging me to commit it, when it goes against what all the other women of the world strive for."

Bosworth barely kept herself from narrowing her eyes. She didn't want to compare Loki with humans, in her mind his situation wasn't anything like all the women in the history of mankind who had suffered through rape.

"For thousands of years, it's been natural for war heroes to claim the conquered for their own pleasures. _To the victor go the spoils_ , as it were. The difference between then and now is that Loki only remains here on Earth for one sole intent; to be bred. Any children he gives birth to here will be raised by SHIELD, to help protect the Earth from alien invasions, as decided by his father Odin, the king of Asgård. Loki brought the first attack and we have to prepare ourselves for more. It isn't rape, do not think of it as such. Consider him your concubine, if you'd rather. Providing us with a powerful army is what he's sentenced to because Earth desperately needs it."

She tilted her head slightly as she continued. "You won't find too many people out there who can take someone of your size, but Loki can. He will be yours to have anytime you wish, unless he is heavy with child of course. This is what we can offer you, in addition to your relative freedom, if you choose to accept the situation as it is. We need him to get bred by someone extraordinary, and you're on the top of the list."

Blonsky merely hummed thoughtfully in reply, but they both already knew the answer.

Bosworth stood up and bowed slightly.

"Thank you for your cooperation," she said before turning to exit, leaving behind the briefcase with the holopad activated on the table, with footage of Loki fighting Captain America playing alongside clips of the alien invasion.

 

***

 

Tony sighed and rubbed his face hard before leaning back onto the couch. He'd just had Jarvis getting him access to another of his alternate accounts to purchase a ranch in New Mexico, emptied of livestock and ready to get moved into directly. With its 6,000 acres, it was someplace Bruce could stay on the premises without even being anywhere remotely near Loki. Loki, who was still out cold by the way. Steve was in the bathroom cleaning himself up while they waited for him to wake up.

And while he knew he really shouldn't, he couldn't help but to feel his guts wrench at the sight of Loki tied up in the chair. His thoughts went back to how he'd found him; strapped down from head to toe onto a bed, unable to even move his fingers, and even though the situations weren't anywhere near he still knew how Loki would react. And try as he might, but deep down he didn't particularly want to ruin what ever it was that had built up between them.

Tony shook his head then got out of the couch to kneel by Loki's chair. His hands reached out to start untying the ropes just as Steve came back.

"Back off, Stark."

Tony hesitated only for a slight second before he resumed his task.

"He's going to freak out like quite a lot if he wakes up like this," he muttered. "If you actually want to deal with that then you've got some major issues, man."

"I want him tied down and under control. If you can't respect that, then I'll have no choice but to remove you from this operation."

Tony turned to look at Steve.

" _'Remove me'_ , are fucking serious? You can't _'remove me'_ , I'm the reason why you're even here in the first place! Don't act like you actually have any say in _'removing'_ me!"

"I know you don't like it but you need to follow my orders on this, Stark. Don't let your personal feelings for him get in the way."

Tony felt his jaw drop a little before he managed to clench his teeth together.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Steve held his gaze for a moment before he replied.

"You obviously care enough about him to make sure he feels comfortable. There is a chance that you have taken a liking to him enough for him to exploit it. So as long as Loki is under my charge, he'll be tied until I say otherwise. Accept it, or back off."

"Back off so you can take him back to SHIELD? Uhh no I don't think so, not after all the work I've done so far."

"Enough, Stark. If I wanted him back with SHIELD, he'd be there by now with Natasha."

Tony glared at him but stood up and moved aside. Steve gave him a short nod in thanks.

"Why didn't you tell us about it?" he had to ask. "When you took him to the Tower, why didn't you let us know what had been done?"

Tony looked away with a slight shrug.

"Because you wouldn't believe me. _I_ wouldn't believe me. I don't know, I was pretty much convinced you'd bring him back there, for the greater good of all mankind." He chewed on a fingernail. "And I couldn't tell anyone about it, not even Pepper, because then it all would have been _real_. I wasn't ready for that."

Steve almost winced at how tense and agitated Tony was. It was so strange to see the man who usually was so calm and collected and treated everything as a joke got so unnerved and emotional about something. He let his eyes drift over to the clock on the wall for a moment before he turned back to Tony.

"Why don't you go and bring your things to the car?" he said in a gentle tone. "We'll leave as soon as Loki's woken up, I don't really want to have him wake up in the car, if he's going to freak out like you say."

Tony seemed hesitant to leave but couldn't argue. The sooner they got away, the better. Natasha had informed SHIELD that they had only encountered an empty suit that had been left there as a decoy, but there was always the one agent who would take matters into their own hands and could show up to check things out for themselves. They needed to be long gone when that happened.

Steve watched Tony go, then sat down on the couch with a tired sigh as he watched over their prisoner. Loki looked awful. He was incredibly skinny and his face was too sunken in, he had dark circles under his eyes and even now, passed out, he looked distressed. And hidden from view was that horrible scar, the only proof they had that everything Tony had claimed was true.

Steve's eyes observed the state of Loki's arms, the scars and fading bruises that were left behind from the tight bonds, and he assumed Loki's legs looked pretty much the same. Even the collar seemed to have been too tight as he spotted a large bruise on Loki's collarbone.

No, wait... that wasn't...

Steve frowned and stepped closer to get a better look.

It was a fresh freaking _hickey_.

And the crusty stains on Loki's shirt was...

Steve's face flushed bright red. He shook his head with confusion, Tony had acted too protective over Loki to have assaulted him, and Loki had been _raped_ , he shouldn't have initiated any such contact, right? Steve stumbled back a few steps and called for Tony. And ofcourse that was when Loki decided to start screaming.

 

***

 

_He was back in the room, the lights overhead so bright that they blinded him and the straps all over his limbs that kept him immobile in his bed were bound so incredibly tight that the blood circulation almost got cut off, and no matter how much he thrashed in his wild attempts to get out he couldn't budge. The collar around his neck kept giving him massive amounts of electrical shocks in an endless stream but he didn't care – the Hulk was coming for him and he was screaming. He could hear Agent Tolly standing beside him, laughing at his misery. He was choking on that damn sweet scent in the air that would drive the Hulk to dominate him._

_The binds were cutting into his flesh so deeply it almost felt like his arms were at risk of being sawn off every time he struggled against them, but he couldn't just lie still and accept what would be done to him, he had to get out, even if he lost his arms in the process._

_Tolly kept on laughing as he filled Loki's ears with horrible promises of what was going to happen; the Hulk was going to fuck him senseless, over and over again until Loki would learn to accept his place and maybe even come from the pleasure he'd find by doing so._

_"Accept your punishment. It's for your own good, brother," Thor agreed as he came to stand beside Tolly and placed a heavy hand over Loki's mouth in an attempt to keep him quiet._

_Suddenly Hulk burst into the room with a roar that shook the walls. He was right in Loki's face. Loki stopped screaming and struggling as he became paralyzed with fear. Hulk bowed his head to lick every inch of Loki's body as he untied Loki's legs and placed them on either side of his waist._

_"_ **Mine** _," he growled as he forced himself fully inside with a single thrust._

_Loki screamed louder than he ever had before. He hadn't been lubricated or stretched and the Hulk was ripping him apart._

_He could hear Thor telling him to relax and_ **accept it** _while Tolly chuckled. He renewed his frenzied struggles and the binds dug in even deeper until they sliced right through his bones._

_Then he fell out of bed and landed on the floor and got the wind knocked out of him._

 

***

 

Tony rushed into the livingroom just as Loki's forceful thrashing knocked his chair over. Even on the floor he kept fighting against the invisible monsters that tormented his mind.

"The fuck did you do, Rogers?!" Tony yelled as he knocked him aside in his hurry to get to Loki.

"I didn't do anything, he just started screaming!"

"I told you! I fucking _told you_!"

Tony tried to reach for the knots on the rope but Steve wrapped his arms around him from behind and pulled him away.

"If you untie him now, he's going to attack _you_!" He tightened his hold until he felt Tony give up his struggles.

Tony stared in horror as Loki suffered through his nightmare. He felt his body go limp against Steve's as he recalled his own nightmares, when he had woken up in the middle of the night, scared enough to almost get a cardiac arrest, and his suit sensing his distress and coming to his rescue and attacking Pepper.

"Let go of me," he demanded softly.

Steve hesitated for a long moment before did so, hoping Tony wouldn't be foolish enough to try the same thing twice. Tony stumbled over to Loki, who was screaming his lungs out in rage as he thrashed about on the floor, still tied to the chair that miraculously hadn't broken with the force of Loki's struggles.

He kneeled down next to him and grabbed Loki's face in his hands and leaned down to his ear.

"Loki," his voice cracked a little and he had to clear his throat to talk louder. "Loki, wake up. It's me. Tony. I'm here. I'm here, okay?"

He kept repeating his words and stroking Loki's hair until Loki stopped fighting and his angry screams died down to broken whimpers as he begged his tormentors to _please stop_. His green eyes were wide open but unfocused as he stared unseeingly at Tony's face above his own.

"Can you hear me? Loki?"

He kept talking and eventually Loki went quiet as he blinked his eyes to get them to focus.

"Stark?"

"Yeah, I'm here. You're safe. It was all just bad dreams."

"Untie me."

Tony was about to do it when he caught the dangerous gleam in Loki's eyes. Loki wasn't himself, well, not the self that Tony had come to like, anyway. He was on the very edge of freaking out anew and Tony might have been many things, but outright stupid wasn't one of them.

"Untie me now, Stark," Loki demanded in a dark tone but Tony simply shook his head as he pulled the chair into an upright position.

"I can't do that right now, Snowflake," he said as he took a step back. "You need to sit here and breathe for awhile, okay?"

He gave Loki a final glance before he walked out through the patio doors to get some fresh air and calm himself down. Loki stared after him for a moment, his body was shaking as he felt torn between anger and anxiety for having Stark leave him, but then noticed Steve's presence in the room.

"The soldier," he sneered, glaring at Steve with hatred for having shown his weakness so blatantly in front of him. "Here to bring me back to your masters, like a good hound?"

Steve met Loki's heated gaze with a calm and collected one of his own. Loki's voice was raspy and hoarse and Steve could only imagine how terribly sore his throat must have been. He pitied Loki because no one deserved to be put in such horrifying situations, but that didn't mean he needed to actually be anything more than civil towards him.

"Actually I'm here to go with you and Stark."

Loki narrowed his eyes. While Captain America was a strong fighter and would have been a good asset to have on his side in case SHIELD or the Aesir showed up, he would most likely only be in the way of Loki's plans of getting into Stark's good graces.

"And what of the rest of your merry little band of crime fighters?"

"That is none of your concern."

"I beg to differ. Surely you must have discovered by now that I'm not exactly fond of your green beast."

Loki's voice was dripping with venom. Steve shifted awkwardly where he stood.

"If the situation calls for it, we'll have backup," he decided to admit in the end. "Whether the backup is against SHIELD and Asgård or against you, is up to you and your actions from here on out." Perhaps knowing that more would be aiding on Loki's side in regards to SHIELD would calm the man down quicker.

Loki continued to glare at the man as he mulled his options over. The Captain was stronger than any other humans and would undoubtedly be able to take Loki down in a fight in his current condition. He couldn't sense the presence of anyone else, meaning that the other Avengers were off somewhere with the beast, but still close enough if needed.

In short it meant that Loki couldn't fight his way out of the situation, and if he kept playing nice, the soldier wouldn't call in his team and Loki might still have a chance at getting Stark where he wanted him. A damned slimmer chance, but still existent.

Loki hated both options but as of now, he knew he had to stay on the route he'd chosen.

He broke eye contact with the soldier as he looked down at the floor, a slight frown on his face as he forced himself to calm down from the rage that was still boiling inside of him and instead focusing on coming off as hurt and weak. He supposed it did help, for once, that he was exhausted; now when the adrenaline rush had begun to fade away he could also feel the pain all over his body. Thankfully it was only mostly bruises, he didn't remember much of what had transpired but atleast he hadn't been violated again. His abdomen hurt but as far as he could tell his stitches hadn't ripped open.

He was dripping with sweat and he was still wearing the shirt from last night but there was no chance that he'd ask the Soldier for permission to go take a shower. He'd rather sit there and stink. If he had any luck, maybe that would finally make the man _stop staring at him_ and go away.

But no, the Soldier remained, his eyes not leaving Loki for any lengths of time. Loki remained silent, he was exhausted and angry and had to keep reminding himself of his plan to keep from trying to break free. He was a patient strategist, he'd come too far to give in to impulses that would give his game away. A few bumps in the roads were always to be expected, no matter how humiliated he felt.

Thirty minutes of silence passed before Stark returned. Loki hated how all the tension in his body eased up at the mere sight of him.

Tony stopped momentarily in the doorway as he looked Loki over. Assured that the man wouldn't spaz out, he strode towards him, not even sparing a glance in Steve's direction. He discreetly placed a hand on Loki's arm as he crouched down to untie him, promptly ignoring all Steve's objections. It wasn't until Steve moved forward that Tony held up a hand against him to halt his movements.

"Shower, five minutes, then we're off," Tony said, uncharacteristically short and to the point.

Steve looked between the two for a few seconds before he nodded his consent.

"Fine."

Tony undid the last few knots and Loki moved to stand on shaking legs. Tony gripped Loki's arm and placed a hand on his back as if to escort him on the way and Loki found himself leaning against his touch for added support when he realised just how ungraceful his body had become.

As Loki walked into the bathroom, Tony shut the door behind him and stood back to wait. Steve leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as he observed Tony.

"Just what exactly has been going on between the two of you?"

Tony shrugged.

"Drinking, talking, eating, plotting world domination... same old."

"And the hickey on his neck?"

Tony smirked humourlessly as he looked back at Steve.

"You surprise me, Cap. Wouldn't have thought that someone as uptight as you would have ever recognised a hickey even if it jumped up and bit you."

"Were you the one who gave it to him?"

"You're starting to sound jealous. Do you want one too, or --"

"Cut the crap, Stark. Is there something... _more_ going on between you that I need to know of?"

"I'm not sure your innocent little ears would be able to handle me answering that question."

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose as Tony prattled on and on in mockery.

"Stark... This is important."

Tony watched him in silence for a moment before he gave a short nod.

"Yeah, so maybe something happened. You're gonna remove me from the mission for that, Cap?"

Steve shook his head slightly in disbelief.

"He was _raped_. Repeatedly. And you think it's okay for you to do that to him?"

"Okay first of all, _he_ came on to me. Second, I'd say he's old enough to damn well know if he can handle intimacy or not."

"It's Loki. You didn't stop to think that maybe he had any ulterior motives?"

Tony stubbornly kept eyecontact as he thought about last night. The sound of thunder as Tony wanted to leave which caused Loki to panic and whore himself out for Tony to stay with him. Yeah, there it was, the ugly truth. Something Tony hadn't wanted to accept but he couldn't deny anymore as guilt settled back into his mind. Tony wasn't some savior or even a friend, he was still just the same old selfish bastard who went wherever his dick directed him.

"Everyone have their reasons, even if they might not be justifiable," he said in the end.

He rapped his arm against the door.

"Time's up!"

They could hear the shower run for a few moments longer before it shut off. A minute later Loki stepped out in a fresh set of clothes that Tony had placed there beforehand. Steve gave Tony a short calculating glance before he grabbed Loki's arms.

Loki flinched and Tony almost made a move to step inbetween them but Steve made a swift work of tying Loki's wrists together. The knot was placed further down on Loki's left arm where his fingers couldn't reach. The rope was strengthened with vibranium threads and, as already proven, would hold against Loki's struggles.

"This doesn't come off until I say," he ordered. "Get in the car. Tony, you drive."

He followed Tony and Loki out to the Cadillac where he directed Loki to sit in the backseat behind Tony. Steve got into the passenger's seat where he could keep an eye on the both of them. He sent a text message to Clint to let him and Bruce know they were leaving and where to, then settled back in his seat as they begun their long journey.

 

***

 

Fury walked into his office at the Triskelion and instinctively reached for his gun and aimed it at the person lounging in his chair before he recognised her. He gave her a dirty look as he put his gun back in the holster and closed the door behind him.

"Have you ever heard of announcing yourself, Agent Romanoff?" he gruffed as he walked over to the table that separated them.

She raised an unimpressive eyebrow as she spun around in the chair.

"I'm a spy, Director Fury."

He couldn't help but to chuckle a bit before he moved on to more important issues.

"Mission debrief."

"You've undoubtedly already read in the reports I called in on the flight back, sir. Empty Iron Man suit decoy, false alarm."

"And your unannounced presence here...?"

"Trying to find information." She stopped spinning the chair to look him hard in the eyes. "From the source."

Before he could say anything, she continued.

"Actually, sir, I came here to log in on your server and find what I was looking for." Fury instantly began to argue that his agent had double-crossed him but the next words promptly shut the man up. "But I couldn't access it."

Fury didn't know if he should be impressed with SHIELD's security or worried that their best hacker couldn't get through. Natasha leaned back in the chair.

"I want to know everything regarding Loki's confinement."

"Like I told you, Agent Romanoff. We're keeping him here to experiment with strong sedatives to be used against alien attackers."

"Yes, you told me that, sir. But I'm interested to know what more you're experimenting with."

Fury narrowed his eye.

"And what could have possibly made you think there ever was anything else?"

Natasha kept her eyes steadily on Fury's face to observe every little thing he might give away, because sometimes even the best of the best could be taken off guard. "Stark told me a few things."

Ah yes, there it was. Hardly noticable to anyone else, but Fury's eye widened a tiny fraction for the smallest of moments before it narrowed just so.

"And Stark told you this in his _empty suit_ , Agent Romanoff?"

"I never stated that my report was the truth, Director Fury," Natasha said as she stood up from the chair and moved around the table to stand in front of him. "You if anyone should know that delicate situations sometimes requires a few details to be untold. I am on your side, Director Fury, and I hope I always will be. But I need you to be truthful to me. I wish to know everything you know about what's been done to Loki."

"What's been done to Loki is exactly what Odin sentenced him to."

"So I've heard. But I was hoping you'd tell me specifics."

Fury looked at her for a long time before he closed his eye and sighed as he shook his head and crossed his arms.

"SHIELD were to use him to create an army. The Avengers won't last forever and the Earth is an open target for more alien attacks, from which we wouldn't possibly be able to defend ourselves. To aid us and to punish Loki for trying to take over our world, Odin saw it fit for Loki to give back for the lives he took."

"I never thought SHIELD would become a baby factory. Sir."

"My exact words, Agent Romanoff," Fury said with a humourless loopsided grin, which Natasha responded to with one of her own. "The World Security Council found the idea to be too astonishing to pass up. I can't tell you much more than that, I handed over all responsibility of the project to Agents Tilly and Bosworth. They gave me a yearly update of Loki's health and that of the...offspring. All seemed to go according to plan until Stark got him out."

"And the men who would sire this new army?" Natasha asked, hoping that her instincts were right. "Do you know who they were?"

"I didn't really care to find out. All I know is that the orders were that they were to be something special, and consenting."

The sad look in Natasha's eyes sent a shiver down Fury's spine. Something was extremely wrong.

"Like I said, sir. I couldn't get to the information. You're not authorized."

Natasha went back to the screens she'd momentarily shut down while waiting for Fury and showed him all the information she'd been able to access. Loki's health status and that of three children were showing, as he'd said, but no further detail than that. Trying to access anything more specific was met with an error message.

Fury frowned and tried using his voice commands but the information still wouldn't open.

"I'm afraid Tilly and Bosworth have been hiding information from you, sir," Natasha said before taking a deep breath. "Atleast one of the men they've been using haven't given his consent at all. It's Bruce."

Fury stared at her for a moment as he let the information sink in.

Natasha bit her lip as she turned to look out through the windows.

"Bosworth was also overseeing the scent branding project. Somehow she managed to get Hulk to..." She shook her head and let the words remain unsaid.

Fury felt the rage boil in his veins but he did his outmost to remain calm and collected. Romanoff was one of his most trusted agents, but both Tilly and Bosworth had continuously proven their worth as well. However the proof was right in front of him, in the form of the word 'error' all over the screen.

He placed his hands on the desk and leaned down to let out a heavy breath. The situation had spiralled far out of control. He knew that something wrong could happen, that people would misuse their authority, but he would have never imagined that Bruce – _the Hulk_ – would be used so horribly. Especially since Fury himself had promised the man safety from being used in any way against his will.

"Tolly and Bosworth will remain where they are for now," he said through gritted teeth.

Natasha's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest but Fury raised his head and gave her a determined look.

"They will be dealt with in due time, believe me. But as for now, our main concern is to get Loki. No matter _how_ things were done to him, he's a world terrorist and our prisoner and we can't have him out there amongst innocent citizens. Our second concern is the offspring. Information has been withheld from me and SHIELD on purpose and to arrest wayward agents now means that we risk losing a lot more than that."

He straightened up and looked intensely at the redhead.

"I need you to continue to pry deeper into this. We're sticking with your story of the empty suit and you don't know _anything_ more than that."

"Yes, sir."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: it's finally finally back again!!!! A massive THANK YOU to everyone who's read and commented and asked about it while I took a break!!! Thank you so incredibly much, you have no idea how much it really meant to me!!!!! and how it's kept me going, not only with this fic but with other things IRL as well! I had no intention to put this fic on hiatus, and especially not for almost 16 months! Thank you for your patience!!!

Bruce poured cold water over his face then leaned heavily onto the sink but kept his eyes down so he wouldn't have to look at himself in the mirror. He couldn't believe he'd been so foolish, that he'd actually gone against his better judgement and trusted SHIELD. He should have known better. Everything in his life turned into a mess, what had made him think this would have been any different?

He had a child.

Somewhere, deep within SHIELD's clutches. A child that would grow up to be a soldier, trained to do whatever SHIELD and the Council desired it to do. He didn't want to think of his child as an 'it' but he didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl.

Then there was the stillborn baby, a girl that Tony had tried, and failed, to save.

His body shook with sobs as he allowed himself to cry.

He had raped someone.

The thoughts kept swirling around in his head and the guilt was eating him up from the inside. He quickly moved a step over so he could kneel down by the toilet just in time to throw up.

He didn't notice when Clint stepped into the bathroom but the man's hand on his back as he retched felt strangely comforting. Clint stroked his back in soothing circles until Bruce leaned back from the toilet.

"I can't believe I did it," Bruce whispered, mostly to himself.

"It wasn't you."

"The Hulk _is_ me. He's a part of me, he's my emotions. I should have noticed something was wrong, I should have stopped it..."

"You couldn't have known."

"All sessions were videotaped. I watched them. I never saw anything strange. No weird cuts. Just me and the scents."

"It's easy for people like them to edit a video. But listen to me Bruce, it was _not_ your fault. You didn't know, none of us did. With whatever they did to you, you can't be blamed for what happened to him."

Bruce shook his head as he kept crying. Clint sat down next to him, listening to every word the man said and kept supporting him. He couldn't even begin to imagine the anguish Bruce was going through but he would do his outmost to help him however he could.

He lost track of how long they sat there but from the stiffness in his back he'd say a couple of hours. Bruce had stopped crying and his words had died down. He was staring apathetically into the opposite wall as he slowly came to grips with what had transpired.

Clint's phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out to read the text from Steve.

"They're on the move", he said softly. "You're still up for this?"

Bruce nodded determinedly, "I have to."

Clint nodded and stood up to stretch, making his joints pop.

"We'll give them an hour's head start, minimum. Wash up, get some rest. I'll order us some pizza."

 

***

 

Loki was leaning against the window, his eyes closed and his breathing even as he feigned sleep. The only sound for far too long were only that of the car engine and the rock songs on the radio. Stark had initially turned up the volume to drown out the awkward silence but Rogers promptly turned the noise down; Stark kept trying to adjust the volume up to his desired level while Rogers kept batting his hand away from the knob.

Rogers had won their battle after threatening to rip out the entire radio.

A pair of overgrown children, both of them.

Twenty-four songs had passed before he heard Rogers shift in his seat to look back at him over his shoulder.

"Is he doing alright?"

Loki could feel Stark's eyes on him in the rearview mirrow for a long moment. He had a sense that Stark probably saw through his current charade but he replied the other man anyway.

"And you're asking this now, why?"

Silence. Soft friction of fabric against leather that indicated a slight shrug.

"Regardless of who he is and what he's done... what he's been through would be enough to break just about anyone."

"Took you long enough to realise."

"So is he?"

"Would you be?"

Another two songs passed before Rogers opened his mouth next.

"Look, I get why you did what you did, I really do. But you have to remember what he did. What he's able to do again if given the chance. We really can't take any chances here, our entire world is at stake."

Stark's eyes locked on him again as Loki kept pretending to be asleep.

"It wouldn't be if he had been treated with some level of respect from our part," he said softly after a moment.

Rogers hummed but it took until the end of the song before he spoke again.

"So how come you didn't go fully incognito?"

"Huh?"

"It's when you're--"

"I know what it means," Stark huffed. "I was."

"You still look like yourself. You're not even sporting the classic glasses with attached fake nose and moustache."

"The beauty of being me is that I'm so amazing," and Loki could swear he could _hear_ the shit-eating grin on Stark's face as he said it. "There are so many guys trying to look like me that everyone assumes I'm one of them. This one fella even said that he almost thought I was the great and heroic Tony Stark, if I wasn't too short. I'm not even _that_ short, I'm just the right size."

Stark prattled on about himself and his strange admirers and Loki did his outmost to keep from sighing. The man seemed much more at ease but Loki could see through his act. Keeping things light and easy while trapped in a tiny vehicle for a considerate amount of hours would be easier for all of them than to be at each other's throats. Stark did turn out to be a clever man after all.

He idly continued to listen to their dull conversation and didn't even realise he'd fallen asleep for real until the car came to a sudden halt and he was jerked awake. He tensed up and quickly looked around for any signs of danger before noticing that they'd only pulled up in front of a small conveniance store.

"Hey Snowflake," Tony said as he turned around in his seat to look at him. "I'm just gonna head inside for a moment, yeah?"

_'Don't do anything stupid'_ was plain to see on Tony's face even though he wouldn't say the words out loud.

Loki held his gaze as he wordlessly leaned back in his seat, letting that be all the confirmation he'd give.

As soon as Stark shut the door behind him Rogers started tuning the radio in search of a better station. He found an older slow song and settled back in his seat with a soft sigh.

"Much better", he said mostly to himself. "So... you and Stark.... you might as well come clean with what your intentions are."

"My intentions?" Loki asked innocently.

Rogers stared straight at him. A small blush on the Soldier's cheeks were all that proved that he wasn't comfortable with the subject but he was still determined to go through with it.

"You know exactly what I mean, Loki."

"Your choice of words makes it sound like I'm up to no good by manipulating your dear friend Stark with sex. Plenty of ravenous, carnal, mindblowing, shamelessly kinky, bed-shattering sex."

Loki's face and voice was still full of innocence as he spoke the words while Rogers' face had turned completely red.

"If so, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Captain. The sex was astounding, don't get me wrong, but that's all there is."

"You had sex with Stark, with no hidden agendas?"

"If you're convinced I'm a liar, why ask me for the truth?"

"You were..." Rogers looked away. "You were raped. And yet you still want sex. It doesn't add up to me."

Loki narrowed his eyes slightly and huffed out a breath. No, he didn't want sex, he wasn't interested in it and he doubted he would have been for years to come if it hadn't been necessary to keep Stark with him. But Tony had made it surprisingly good, had made him feel like there was still hope even for someone as messed up as Loki. He hadn't even penetrated him like Loki had feared he would.

"So because of that, I'm supposed to cower and be afraid of intimacy for the rest of my incredibly long life?" Loki questioned harshly before his voice softened. "Tony is a very talented and caring lover, if you must know. Or maybe you already do. I'm not trespassing on your property, am I?"

Rogers' blush intensified further as he quickly responded with a no and Loki let out a soft, fond laugh.

"He's incredibly good with his hands. And that mouth... Who would have ever thought that a Midgardian would know such levels of expertise?"

He grinned widely with mischief at how uncomfortable Rogers looked; the man had no one but himself to blame for the situation after all, but maybe he would take some pity on him.

"Rape and sex are not the same thing, Captain Rogers," he said after a moment. "One is a horrible, brutal way of torture, the other is two people enjoying each others bodies. Would this explaination help your calculations?"

"Yeah," Rogers said and coughed as the word almost got stuck in his tight throat. "Yeah, I suppose it does help to try and understand a little."

"My turn to ask," Loki said and lifted his bound arms. "Is this truly necessary? It's not like it would do me any favours to strike you or Tony while we're running away from SHIELD, wouldn't you agree?"

"Those stay on," Rogers said in a simple yet demanding tone. "Stark might trust you, but I don't."

Any further conversation between them was interrupted as Tony made his way back to the car. He motioned with his hand that Steve would take over the wheels as he would need to take some time to start repairing his suit. Steve left his seat and Tony flopped down. He turned to face Loki, who looked to be in a better mood than Tony had feared. He'd almost expected the god to have been stressing out or something.

"Everything okay?" Loki answered with a soft smile and a nod and Tony glanced down at his stomach. "You want any medical attention? Your stomach, I mean... if you got struck too hard..."

If they'd been alone, Loki would have kept playing the hurt card, but his patience was beginning to run out.

"I just want to arrive at our destination, actually. We can discuss it once we get there."

Tony nodded and sat back in his seat and quickly tuned back to his rock station before Steve opened the driver's door to take his place behind the wheel. Steve sighed and switched back to his station.

"Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole", he stated sternly to put an end to Tony's schemes.

"Pop culture reference. I'm impressed."

They rolled out back on the road, with the following hours containing only the sounds of soft country music, Tony's tinkering with his tech and a few soft snores from Loki who had dozed off again.

 

***

 

The scenery didn't change much. Trees, farms, small communities, more trees, more farms. Steve occasionally glanced over to his side to watch Tony try and repair the damage Hawkeye had done to his suit to distract himself from the monotone road ahead.

Tony seemed to be doing a good and rather quick job considering his limited space and tools. One gauntlet was already being in working order, although obviously not in top shape it still would be able to function if needed to. Hopefully. Steve couldn't help but to remember how Howard Stark's creations and repairs sometimes didn't live up to their expectations.

A glance in the rearview mirror showed Loki's worn out face. His eyebrows were a bit tense and his forehead wrinkled, causing him to look a bit distressed. Steve prepared himself to not drive off the road in case the man would start to freak out from his nightmares as he'd done before. Atleast his arms were tied in case the worst should happen.

His eyes went back onto the road and he sped up slightly to occupy his thoughts with something else. He barely even registered the sight ahead of him before a large hand knocked the car over.

The Cadillac rolled madly off the road and down a small hill until the momentum came to an end and it landed upside down in a field.

Steve groaned and squinted his eyes open, and as soon as his mind had caught up with the recent turn of events he turned to Tony to see if he was injured. Tony was bleeding from a cut in his forehead, caused by either the gauntlet or his tools. He didn't seem to be fatally wounded by any of the other objects that had been thrown around inside the car and the mumbled string of cuss words showed that the man was conscious.

He unbuckled himself and fell down onto the crumbled ceiling of the car.

"Tony... Tony! Get out of the car", he ordered as he turned to check on their prisoner. He only managed a quick look to observe Loki was alive and awake before the ground shook as their attacker had jumped down by their car.

"Everyone out now, we're under attack!"

He helped Loki unbuckle his belt as Tony slowly crawled out through the smashed window.

"You've got to be shitting me..." Tony growled as he tried to stand up. "Those fuckers let you out already, Abby?"

"Hand over the prisoner and there's no need for you to get hurt", the Abomination demanded.

Tony pointed to his forehead that kept spilling blood all over his face.

"I'm already hurt, fuckface!"

Blonsky grinned widely before letting out a dark laughter.

"Occupational hazard, Iron Man. Hand him over or would you wish further injuries?"

Without giving Tony much time to even make a choice, Blonsky struck out with his fist to possibly kill him when a shield suddenly struck him in the face and halted his movements. The shield returned to its owner who took a decisive stance in front of Loki and Tony.

"There's no need for this, Blonsky. Loki is a prisoner under our care."

"A prisoner stolen from SHIELD. Surely even the great Captain America should know better."

"We don't want to fight you, but Loki stays with us."

"You're right in not wanting to fight me. You can't win!"

Blonsky struck down against Steve who met the impact with his shield, the vibranium making the creature jolt back by the force from it. Steve jumped forward to engage in a fight and hopefully drive Blonsky back further. Tony seized the opportunity to suit up with whatever was still working, which wasn't a lot to Loki's dismay; the entire right arm-piece along with it's shoulder piece and parts of the chest, and the boots. The actual body suit only managed a weak whirring but failed to come and attach itself to Tony and he didn't have the time to put it on manually.

Tony aimed his arm towards Blonsky, ready to fire off some missiles from the small arm section, but the tech failed him and he took his arm down to manually pry open the protective barrier, which consequently left him wide open for another attack.

Loki's eyes widened as he shouted out a warning, "Tony, look out!!!"

Loki pushed him aside at the very last second and took the hit himself. Blonsky struck him hard, making him fly several meters through the air before crash-landing hard a distance away; a hit that definitely would've killed Tony in his unprotected state.

"Loki...!"

Tony let out an angry yell as he managed to pry open the barrier and set off the missiles which exploded in Blonsky's face, giving Steve the chance to strike him with his shield. Not that it would do much, they needed heavier artillery.

Tony worriedly looked over at Loki, desperately wanting to go and check that he was okay but knowing he needed all the time he had to keep fighting. He quickly connected the last few cords to be able to start charging up for a more powerful blast. The gauntlet wasn't exactly reliable, chances were far too high that it would explode and take his entire arm along with it, but that was a sacrifice he had to be willing to make.

He heard an unusually sharp whirring noise as it loaded, he shut his eyes and promptly said goodbye to his right hand and thanked it for all its services throughout the years, then let the repulsor beam loose. Much to his delight – and total surprise, if he were being honest to himself – the gauntlet didn't explode and the beam hit its target with full force. The Abomination had been driven further back, but he was still uninjured and highly dangerous.

Tony kept the beam going which gave Steve the chance to head back to the car and search for his phone to call for back-up. He heard him roam around wherever he could reach inside the wrecked vehicle and stepped forward to up his attack. He only had the beam of one gauntlet to rely on and he needed to make sure their back-up would be able to get here before it was too late. Driving Blonsky away from Steve and Loki was all he could do, even if his beam didn't even seem to cause any major damage to the beast's thick skin.

His shoulder piece whirred as it opened to release more missiles. If he had any luck, maybe they'd atleast poke out Blonsky's eyeballs. He heard all remaining ten missiles activate but only counted nine that flew away.

Shit.

Before he could react, someone grabbed the last missile and threw it against Blonsky, right into his roaring mouth where it exploded and threw him back a distance.

Tony let out a relieved laugh and turned to Loki.

"Always knew that robo-frog would be good for _something_!"

Loki huffed out a laugh as he quickly checked Tony for any injuries.

"Who would have thought that measly little thing actually turned out to be useful?" he teased with a playful grin. "But perhaps now it would be a good time for you to finally trust me?"

Tony didn't even hesitate. He reached out for Loki to turn him around in order to get to the control panel at the back of the collar, but even though he tried to be as quick as possible, Blonsky had recovered and attacked. His large hand struck out and knocked Tony away. Loki watched wide-eyed as Tony's body flew straight into Steve, whom made sure to take the brunt of the hit as they crashed into the Cadillac behind them.

"Pathetic," Blonsky snarled as he grabbed a hold of Loki and took off.

Steve quickly looked down at Tony in his arms to make sure he was still alive as he heard Clint's worried voice through the speaker of the phone that had landed next to them.

"Steve? Steve?? What happened?"

"We were under attack. They released the Abomination on us..." He could hear Bruce growl in the background as he started to get really angry. "He got Loki and is headed north-west."

An angry roar was heard followed by Clint's "Oh shit" and the sharp brakes of their car.

"I'm hitching a ride," was the last thing Steve heard before the call ended.

"Clint? Bruce! Clint!"

"A flat beep means the call's ended and they can't hear you anymore," Tony grunted as he stiffly started to move away from Steve's hold.

His entire body hurt but nothing was broken. His chest felt really tight and constricted with worry over Loki but he couldn't let himself think too much about it for now; he needed to finish getting his gear ready and take up the fight again.

Steve stood up and stretched out his back.

"Your helmet's still working?"

Tony retrieved it from the car and checked its state, "Yeah."

Steve nodded as he put in an ear-piece and strapped his shield to his back.

"You said you could keep track on Loki, right? Tell me where he's at, I'm going after."

Tony looked at Steve for a moment with what could possibly maybe be considered a grateful look in his eyes before putting the helmet on. Jarvis quickly opened up an overview map where he could see the little green dot move further away from his red one.

"Got him. He's still north-west bound, heading towards a forest. Jarvis, add Cap." A blue dot appeared on the map as Jarvis connected the tracking device in Steve's ear-piece.

"How soon can we expect you to join us?"

Tony reached into the car to drag out the rest of his suit. He looked down at the broken sections and let out a small whistle as he shook his head.

"Birdbrain really did quite a number on this... but I'm _the_ Tony Stark after all, I should be able to figure out some shortcuts. I should even be able to pick you up on the way."

Steve nodded once and turned to start running. Tony winced a little at the physical labour it would take for the Captain to catch up with the Abomination; Tony was in a good shape for his age and drinking habits, but he surely was no long-distance runner.

He could see the blue dot start to move away from him before pulling his visor up and getting to work.

He really tried to not think about if Hulk got to Loki before he did, or if Abomination managed to actually get back to SHIELD.

 

***

 

Abomination threw Loki hard onto the ground. Loki's breath got knocked out of his lungs at the impact but his body didn't shatter, as any ordinary man's would do. Blonsky watched with interest as the man rolled over to his side and then up into a sitting position in the small crater that the hard impact had created.

"You're a tough one for someone of your small stature, I'll give you that," Blonsky smirked as he tried to look for any more damages other than a few cuts and bruises.

Loki sucked in a breath as his chest stung with pain and tried not to wince as he realised atleast one of his ribs probably were broken. He lifted his head to take a good look at the creature, now when he wasn't preoccupied with battles or being carried away like some silly trophy. It was a hideous thing, bigger and smellier than Hulk but it seemed to have intelligence and self-restraint that the Hulk lacked. Why would Midgård hide away a creature like this instead of having him become a hero like the Hulk? This one could have caused just as much damage to the Chitauri as the other did, so there must have been an interesting reason to have him locked down during the alien invasion. Regardless, it still felt like this creature could be reasoned with.

"Is there a reason why we're out here in the middle of nowhere?" he asked with little interest in his voice as he stiffly moved to stand up.

A low deep rumble sounded from the Abomination's chest as he hummed. A large grin spread over his face as he leaned down closer to Loki, his eyes roaming all over the other, but Loki wouldn't let himself be intimidated as he simply glanced at Blonsky like he was nothing but an annoying bug that flew too close to his face.

"I was curious about this so-called "god" that I was to bring in. So small, so weak, so defenseless, even having humans protecting you... I was hoping that you'd give me more of a fight. The only thing that differences you from them is how well you can take a beating."

Loki smirked back.

"I am more powerful than you could ever imagine, if it truly was a worthy fight you were seeking. However," he tilted his head upwards to properly show off the collar, "this inconvenient little thing is currently keeping my powers at bay."

Blonsky brought his fingers to the collar. He could feel it hum with energy beneath his finger tips and couldn't help but wonder what powers that were hidden from him.

"You claim to be powerful, yet you can't even remove this simple thing from yourself," Blonsky mocked.

"Yes, I'm afraid my powers does not include brute strength, however yours seem to be. If you were to remove it, I can give you exactly what you want. Everything you dream of."

"Exactly what I want, little one?" Blonsky asked with a dangerous grin.

Loki grinned back with a raised eyebrow as he started to move around the creature. He kept his eyes locked with Blonsky's but still managed to take in his surroundings from the corners of his eyes as he circled him. They were in a clearing deep in a forest, if he could get a good head start he could run and hide and hopefully the creature would be too large to even fit his hands into some of the crooks and burrows that wild animals had made their homes.

"You are looking for a worthy adversary, are you not?" Oh yes, Loki knew the type. They were truly all alike, the brutish oafs. "You want to fight someone of your own size and strength, prove yourself to be the mightiest of them all. Is that not so?"

And yes, he definitely had the Abomination's interest.

"Go on, little one."

"The only one to match you here on this planet is the Hulk." The angry growl that emitted from the creature at the mention of the green beast was almost like music to Loki's ears. He had him now. "He's your only true competition and yet you're bigger than him, stronger, more intelligent. Would you not wish for someone more like yourself?"

"And _you_ can become that person?" Blonsky laughed.

Loki looked up at him with big innocent eyes.

" _Me?_ No, never. Like I said, brute strength is not my forte. No, my expertise lies elsewhere. I can open a gateway to a whole new world for you. An entire realm inhabited by the frost giants. They would surely be a worthy competition to someone as mighty as yourself."

Loki grinned excitedly as Blonsky seemed to fall for his proposition.

"Frost giants..." Blonsky mused.

"Hundreds, perhaps thousands of them. An ancient race that lives for blood and violence. What is the Hulk in comparison to them?"

"You would speak so low of your mate?"

Loki's blood froze. His sharp grin quickly turned into a straight line and he narrowed his eyes to glare dangerously at the creature.

"He is _not_ my mate."

"Is that so, little one?" Blonsky huffed out a laugh and started to circle Loki. "Is he not the one that claimed you, claimed your body..." Blonsky's huge fingers stroked along Loki's abdomen. "Got you with child?"

Loki tried his hardest to remain calm as the Abomination's hideous face got right up in his, close enough to almost touch. The stench of the creature's body overwhelmed him and he held his breath to not choke.

"Your words are enticing, little one, but what I wish is to claim what is his, to fill you like he did and make you mine."

"I am not his."

"Yet you have given birth to his children." Blonsky's fingers trailed down from Loki's abdomen to grab at his cock through the sweatpants. "However that worked..."

"It was not by my choice. And neither are you."

Blonsky laughed as he gently squeezed Loki's cock and leaned in to lick the side of his face.

"SHIELD made quite an interesting proposal for me, you see. By working for them, I would have unlimited access to you. I can fuck you whenever I want, however I want. Fill you up with my spunk until you'd know nothing else. How could your frost giants top that, little god?"

"You'd rather be SHIELD's lapdog than your own free person?" Loki sneered. "You disappoint me, I thought you were brighter than that."

Blonsky squeezed him harder and Loki almost doubled over as he gasped for breath. He gripped his hands around Blonsky's arm in an useless attempt to remove it.

"You... ah! You would remain in SHIELD's clutches only because you think I'm Hulk's mate?" Loki tried again. "When you can have countless of giantess harlots satisfy your every need after you slay their men..."

Blonsky laughed.

"You're so insistant, little one. Well then, show me a frost giant. Bring one here and I'll decide which is the better whore."

He released the hard grip he had on Loki's cock and watched as the man hissed as he covered it with his bound hands, but didn't back away from him though. He was one brave little thing, Blonsky had to admit. Loki glared up at Blonsky and huffed.

"There's still the little issue with the collar," he reminded him snidely.

"So troublesome. It would be so much simpler to just fuck you right here and now, but I'll play along."

Blonsky had to laugh at how easy it was to make the tiny god flinch at his crude words, Loki tried to hide it which only made it more fun.

He reached out for the collar and Loki tilted his head to grant him more access. His index finger and thumb grabbed a hold of it and squeezed. The energy within the collar hummed intensely as it seemed to fight against him. He could feel the electric shocks run through him as he watched with interest how Loki's entire body seemed to shake. He pressed down even more and the shocks got stronger.

Loki gritted his teeth but as the pain got too extreme he fell down to his knees and let out a scream. Blonsky grinned and held his hand in place.

"Oh yes. Scream for me, little god."

Loki brought his hands up to try and pry off Blonsky's hold but to no avail. His vision began to darken and just as he was about to black out, Blonsky released him and he fell back on the ground, panting hard as his entire body spasmed from the after shocks.

"What a shame. It seems you can't bring a giantess whore here to take your place. Perhaps if you're sweet enough, we can try it again after I'm done with you."

He laughed as he watched Loki try to get away but his body was too weakened to do anything. Pathetic. What ever did the Hulk see in him? He bent down over the fallen god and kissed him harshly as he settled between his legs.

An angry roar was all the warning he got before he was tackled and thrown away with enough force to bring him a long distance away from Loki, and he laughed with excitement as he realised who it was that had finally arrived. The Hulk barely even looked at him before he bent down over Loki.

"You're _**mine**_!!"

Loki looked up at him with fearful eyes and nodded fervently.

"Yes, yours. Only yours..."

Hulk leaned down and kissed him but got tackled by the Abomination. Loki closed his eyes and took a shaky breath of relief before moving up onto his feet. The creatures were engaged in a violent battle and he needed to get away, as far as possible. His legs were shaking, his ribs were like on fire and the dented collar zapped him whenever he stumbled but he needed to focus all his remaining strength on running.

The trees got denser around him and it was more by sheer luck that he didn't crash into any of them as he kept staring forward, telling himself to run _run **run**_ because no matter how hard he pushed forward, the roars of the beasts behind him didn't fade.

His body felt like he had sprinted for hours yet the roars were still too loud in his ears so it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but already his lungs were burning, his vision was getting fuzzy and his energy was giving out. He stumbled over a root and fell down a small hill, rolling until he reached the bottom, the collar punishing him with electric shocks all the way until he remained still. The intense pain from his ribs made him want to scream out but he gritted his teeth to keep silent and not attract the beasts' attentions. He struggled to get up on shaky legs and continued on his way. His ribs wouldn't let him run again without making him stumble and get zapped.

A large crash made the ground shake and Loki brought his bound hands up to hold onto a tree to not fall down again as the creatures continued their violent battle.

Fucking Midgård.

He should have destroyed the entire realm when he had the chance.

When the ground settled, he kept moving. He spat out a few curses out of frustration of how slowly he had to move. At any moment, one of the beasts could throw the other right into his path. He needed as much distance as possible, he couldn't risk either of them getting their hands on him again but his body wasn't cooperating enough. The Abomination was right, he was too fucking weak.

The trees grew denser around him and he had to bring his bound hands up to move aside the branches as he couldn't crouch down under them. But what he found himself suddenly facing was so shockingly out of place that he could only stop and stare at it dumbfounded for a long minute.

An arrow, pointing straight at his face.

"You shall not pass. Too good an opportunity to not use that line."

Loki's eyes eventually trailed from the arrow and bow towards the man behind it.

"Agent Barton. How pleasant to run into you here."

"Pleasure's all yours."

Clint's hands gripped his weapon tighter, wanting more than anything to fire it.

Loki stared at him coldly.

"Do it," he challenged. "Right at my heart, Agent Barton. Shoot me, or let me through."

Clint gritted his teeth but didn't move for a long moment. Finally he had to lower his bow.

The ground shook again as the battle raged on behind Loki.

"This way," Clint gruffed and motioned for Loki to walk ahead of him.

They made their way down to a creek and waded in the water for a distance before Clint told Loki to start climbing up a mountain on the other side. It wasn't very steep so most of the time they could walk along a path, but at some places they had to climb or jump over a few cliffs. Loki refused to show more weakness than necessary in front of his former thrall and held his breath every time his ribs made their painful reminders of their current state, to keep from making any unwilling sounds.

Almost thirty minutes had passed before they made it to their destination and Loki realised where Barton had led him. At the top of the mountain was a cave, small enough to not draw attention to itself from the ground and high enough to have a good view of what was happening below. Trust Hawkeye to find his perfect nests in any given situation.

"Oh my, this is quite the cosy little place you --"

Clint pushed him roughly down to the ground and couldn't help the twinge of joy at seeing the collar give Loki electric shocks at the sudden impact.

"Sit down, shut up, or I _will_ kill you."

Clint turned to glance back at Hulk and Abomination who were still going wildly at each other.

"God damn it, Bruce..." he muttered to himself as he saw - and heard - Hulk getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment, but all Clint could do was wait.


	14. Chapter 14

Loki made his way to the back of the shallow cave to lean back against the rough walls. He had no energy left but he couldn't bring himself to give in to his body's needs and fall asleep. He could see Hulk and Abomination at a surprisingly large distance away but he was still too unnerved by their proximity to be able to relax, despite Agent Barton's prescence. He discreetly brought his hands up to his hurting ribs to massage them gently in hopes of distracting himself.

The beasts kept fighting, neither running out of the slightest bit of energy as they kept pummeling into each other, breaking the forest apart by tearing up the ground wherever they threw one another.

He'd be quite happy to just leave them to it, let them battle for all eternity for all he cared – just as long as he wasn't anywhere near them. His fingers itched with the urge to open up a gateway to Asgård, let Odin and the other foolish Aesirs suffer the consequences of the worst Midgård had to offer. Not even Thor with his stupid hammer would have any significant power over them.

Loki really did try to not listen to that dark voice at the back of his head, reminding him of the Hulk's offspring and how powerful it would be with Hulk's strength and Loki's magic. From a certain point of view it really seemed like the perfect mixture to bring down Asgård. He shook his head, as tempting as it was, he did _not_ want to think of that child.

Clint noticed his movement and huffed.

"Never would have imagined in a million years that Hulk would fight the Abomination over _you_."

Loki hummed in agreement, "It's not exactly flattering to have such mindless beasts as my admirers."

"The Hulk is anything but mindless," Clint argued. "He's still Bruce beneath it all."

Loki grinned sharply, a dangerous show of teeth with no hint of humour what so ever. A grin that would have most back away to not get caught in the madness that would surely erupt.

"Oh I think I know the creature well enough to determine that for myself."

Clint flinched a little and looked back out over the battle. He was quiet for some time before he continued, his back still turned towards Loki, knowing that the so-called god couldn't do shit against him. It felt empowering, how with such a simple body language truly show the other what a tiny ant he had become.

"I'm not doing this to protect you, just to make it clear. I'm doing this to help Bruce." He turned his head slightly so he could glare right into Loki's eyes. "If it were up to me, I'd let SHIELD and Abomination have you."

They held each other's gaze for a long moment before Clint continued.

"Do you even know what you caused? Can you even feel any regret at all? Not an ounce of guilt for all the innocent civilians who died in New York and Stuttgart?"

Loki didn't look away but stayed silent for some time.

"I wanted it. Take over this entire realm, rule you all. I wanted it just as intensely as _you_ wanted to serve me, Agent Barton. Never forget that. I'm not going to apologise for what I did to you."

"I never expected you to," Clint shrugged. An apology from the god of lies would be nothing but hollow words. "But I don't appreciate how you compare me with yourself. You got into my head, scrambled my brain. I didn't want to serve you out of my own free will."

The corner of Loki's mouth curved up into a tired smile as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"Is that truly so, Agent Barton? Or did I simply set you free, made you let go of any imagined reasons you may have had to keep you from doing what you truly wanted?"

"What I 'wanted' did not consist of turning against my own!"

"Like you're doing now, you mean?"

Clint gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists and just barely contained himself from going over to punch the stupid smirk off of Loki's obnoxious face. He had never been more tempted to call SHIELD and let them know of their whereabouts than he was now, but he had to think of Bruce. The same Bruce whom had been so abused beyond repair, who was currently out fighting the biggest baddest monster on Earth in some attempt to make things right.

He let out a frustrated sigh.

"Turning against SHIELD now still isn't comparable to back then. I attacked them, hurt them... I probably killed some of them. That was not what I wanted."

Loki hummed.

"That part may be true. But you wanted to serve me, with all your heart. And nothing would get in the way of achieving your goals. Not even your own friends."

"I remember. But it's funny what a man choose to believe is true when he has no control over his own thoughts. To follow someone else's idea so blindly because he's unable to think of any alternatives. You made yourself my entire world, like some sick twisted religion. That's what you did to me and don't you ever try to suggest again that I went with you willingly."

Loki merely hummed again, too drained to even bother riling up the man more. He closed his eyes and thought back to the events that occurred before his arrival on Midgård.

His fall from the Bifrost, roaming around for what had felt like an eternity in the dark realms on the most trecherous branches of Yggdrasil, his powers drained away by the dark empty world around him, hunted and partly devoured by monstrous beings, over and over in an endless cycle until Thanos had found him and healed him in exchange for a small favour; to get an ancient artifact in the same realm that just so happened to be Thor's newly acquired toy. Loki really had nothing to lose; he'd get away from the endless darkness of the Void, he'd take over Thor's precious realm and he'd be King.

King of a small, insignificant realm inhabited by short-lived mortals, and bowing down to Thanos as the Supreme Ruler of the multiverse. Part of him had been insulted at the offer. He had been the King of Asgård, how could petty Midgård even come close to that?

Loki had accepted the offer nevertheless, after all ruling Midgård would be better than rotting away in the Darkness, and it would be a good starting point on future attacks to overtake Asgård.

The sceptre had been used on him, not to make him do the deed but to make sure he stayed and fulfilled his mission because not even the Mad Titan would put blind faith into a trickster. It had driven his need to prove himself worthy of Thanos' attentions and expectations to fanatical heights, to mindlessly dive in full force, regardless of the promised rewards. Even as his rebellious chaotic nature gathered the Avengers to fight him, he still needed to win to get out of the tortures of the Darkness and to not be submitted to the hell the Titan would put him through, whatever it might be.

With how things had been going lately it certainly wouldn't surprise him if he'd be turned into a brood mare for Thanos as well, it seemed to be the only thing occupying all the monsters' minds lately.

He couldn't help but to shudder, which jolted his injured ribs and he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood to not let out a hiss. He opened an eye to see if Barton had noticed anything, but the man seemed too preoccupied with observing the world outside.

The man suddenly straightened up as he spotted something in the distance and he reached up to tap his ear-piece.

"Captain? Stark? Anyone copy?" He repeated his words a few times until he recieved an answer when Steve had finally come within range. "There's a helicopter closing in, probably tv reporters. Hulk and Abomination are still going at it."

"Roger that. Stark, you got that? You can't be seen here."

"So I'll fly a little lower," Tony shrugged as he added Hawkeye's location as a purple spot on his map. It showed up just by Loki's green and he frowned. "Legolas, you're with Loki?"

'Alone?' went unsaid.

Tony felt his body begin to shake slightly with anxiousness. He'd been worried before when it was only Abby to be concerned about but Barton would have loved to get some payback for what Loki had done to him. He wasn't sure if he could trust the Agent to be professional with that one particular person.

"Yeah," came the strained answer after a moment's silence. "He's still breathing."

"This is what we'll do," Steve cut in before Tony could start an argument. "Stark and I will come to you. I think I know how we can take down Abomination but I need your help, Hawkeye."

"Right. Just make sure you go up on the backside of the mountain, Stark. The 'copter shouldn't be able to spot you then."

"Stark, your ETA?"

"Give me five minutes and I'll pick you up on the way. Birdbrain did quite a number on my suit. I'd be impressed if it weren't for the fact that it'd be more use to me as, you know, fully functioning."

"Stark tech just isn't what it's cracked up to be, what can I say."

"Wipe that smirk off of your face, Barton, or my tech is a few minutes away from whooping your ass."

"Just a slow start, then?" Clint huffed out amused.

The banter had helped to improve his mood significantly. He glanced back at Loki, who seemed to be asleep and even in some pain. Clint certainly didn't mind.

Eight minutes later - and he was undoubtedly going to keep mocking Tony about that for some time to come - Tony and Steve arrived. Tony's eyes instantly went to take in Loki's condition but seeing him asleep made him stay at the mouth of the cave, not wanting to disturb his much needed rest.

The Avengers overlooked the battle scene ahead of them and noticed how despite his battle rage, the Hulk was still making sure to not move too far away. Probably to not lose track of Loki, Tony thought bitterly.

"They're still going at it with the same ferocity as for the past hours," Clint stated. "Neither of them is bound to give up anytime soon. The helicopter has managed to stay out of their way but it might only be a matter of time before that'll change. Cap, you had a plan?"

Steve reached behind him to the pocket where he had hidden the syringe that Natasha had given him. He clutched it tightly for a moment; what if they would need to use it on Loki? Could Natasha procure more from SHIELD? But he knew they had to try to use it on Abomination, if a few drops could knock out Loki - although yes, he was in a weakened state - the whole vial should prove to work on Abomination as well. Even if it only was _just_ enough to give Hulk the upper hand.

He removed it from his pocket and held it up for the others to see.

"I got this from Natasha. It's from SHIELD, they used it on Loki to keep him knocked out. They--"

He was interrupted by the startled gasp coming from deeper inside the cave and looked over to find Loki staring transfixed at the syringe with pure horror.

Loki was frozen for a moment before his legs kicked out, in some instinctive way of trying to get away but not quite managing to figure out how. His arms struggled uselessly against the tight rope that bound them. The dented collar zapped him every time he made too sudden moves as he tried to back farther into the wall behind him.

"Get that thing away from me!"

Tony's heart clenched at the high-pitched panicked yell, the sight of Loki looking like an injured trapped wild animal, too weak to stand up and cornered with nowhere else to shuffle over.

He was just about to move over to him, to try and calm him down, remind him of who Tony was and that he was safe with him, when Clint stopped him.

Still keeping his eyes intently on Loki, Clint grabbed the syringe from Steve and held it up for Loki, making him more frantic.

"You know what this is?" he asked gruffly, his voice holding a promised threat that Loki instantly picked up on and made him hyperventilate.

"Clint, you son of a bitch!" Tony growled and moved to knock the man down when Steve took a strong hold of him and covered his mouth with one hand to mute him.

"Quiet!" he hissed into his ear. "We have to trust that he knows what he's doing."

Tony hated it. He loathed every single second of having to watch Loki being terrified out of his mind, getting riled up even more so by Barton and just having to stand back and watch.

Clint took a step closer and Loki shouted at him to back off but never once took his eyes off of the item in Clint's hand. Tears were running down his face and although he seemed to be awake, his mind was lost in the nightmare of his memories.

"What do you think this is?"

"Don't you dare come any closer!"

"Tell me!"

"I can't do it again!"

"Do you know what I'm about to do with it?"

Loki couldn't bring himself to answer. Barton's face had turned into Tolly's, with that mocking grin as he told him exactly what he was going to be put through. He could hear the roars of the two beasts in the background, both wanting to get him.

Loki's mind swam with memories of being tied down, stretched open, unable to move, lying absolutely paralyzed as he was bred over and over and more than anything he remembered that horrible sweet scent that emitted from him, covered him entirely, made him want to gag with how it wanted to affect his mind with intentions of dominating the source of it.

And now he was facing the risk of having both Hulk and Abomination becoming influenced by it.

He couldn't breathe. The memories of that scent were too real, making him react in ways that he physically couldn't back then. He had to tightly shut his eyes to break the hypnotizing view of the syringe so he could turn to the side and vomit.

Steve let go and Tony immediately rushed forward to push Clint away from Loki as far as he could go without making him tumble down the mountain, no matter how tempting it was.

"You fucking bastard!"

"I want answers, Stark," Clint defended himself. "And deep down I know you want it too. That reaction Loki had..." They looked over to the broken figure who was still dry-heaving as if he was desperate to get something out of him. "That is _not_ a reaction to simply being knocked out, that's him re-living things being done to him in a _conscious_ state."

Steve frowned, "Natasha claimed it's what it was for, though. That's why she got it, in case he had his powers and we needed to take him down. She used just a few drops of it on him before."

"Meaning if that's just what it is, he still _thinks_ it's something else. Another drug produced to be used on him, and should still be available for them to use at any god damn time. On _anyone_."

Tony looked back at Clint. He hated to admit it, but sometimes the man's brain actually seemed to work. He still shoved him one more time for good measure before slowly moving towards Loki.

He let the suit detach itself from him and kneeled down to make him less intimidating, to make his proximity, his scent and his general awesomeness hopefully reach through to Loki's mind and remind him that he wasn't _there_ anymore.

He knew all too well how one could get trapped inside their bad memories and needed to get help from someone else to lead the way and get coaxed out of them, no matter how much they were reluctant to actually want the help.

"Hey Lokes," he spoke softly. "It's me. Remember me? Tony. I'm here, Snowflake. I'm not going to let them hurt you. Come back to me?"

He had made such good progress with Loki during the past weeks, it was unnerving to watch how quickly a tiny object could be the straw to break the camel's back; after everything Loki had been subjected to throughout the day it'd been the final thing needed to trigger the god to lose himself so completely like this. His heart raged and he wanted nothing more than to demolish every SHIELD facility in hopes of destroying every last bit of whatever the serum was that had terrified Loki, not only for Loki's sake but to also make sure no one else would suffer the same fate.

If it had managed to break a thousand-year old Asgardian as thoroughly as this, he couldn't imagine how it would affect a normal human.

He forced himself to keep calm, he needed to be Loki's rock right now. He continued talking to him, slowly moving closer but making sure not to crowd him.

Steve watched in silence for a moment. This was the second time in one day that he had watched Loki fall apart and truth to be told, it was scary. Stuff of nightmares really, how such a proud and arrogant deity could be reduced to _this_.

He didn't feel it was right for him and Clint to see him like this. He worried so much about Tony's safety but he had to trust him to know how to deal with Loki - who knows how much of this he'd already handled. There was another urgent matter at hand that he needed to take care of and he only hoped he wouldn't make a disastruous mistake in leaving Tony without support if Loki went violent.

"Be careful, Tony," he said, then motioned to Clint that they were leaving. It was going to be a long journey to get to Hulk and Abomination.

Tony kept speaking to Loki for another fifteen minutes before Loki had calmed down enough to stop dry-heaving and hyperventilating. His dented collar had kept shocking him but he'd remained oblivious to it, too wrapped up in his nightmares to react to it. He was still panting rapidly and his body was shaking and covered with sweat, but he seemed more aware. Another five minutes of listening to Tony's voice calmed him down further. Good thing that Tony was an excellent mouth-runner.

Loki was still hunched over with his eyes staring blindly straight ahead when he spoke.

"I can still smell it. It won't go away."

"What, the vomit? It's what it does."

"No. The pheromones. So sickenly sweet. It was coming from me. Made him want to..."

Loki stopped talking and looked like he was going to be sick again. Tony's heart raged.

"I couldn't move. I could see, feel everything but I couldn't..."

His breathing increased in speed and Tony made shushing sounds.

"I'm here. You're with me. That won't be used on you _ever_ again." He waited until Loki's breaths slowed down before he continued. "Come, get over here to me. The air is fresher here."

Loki was so exhausted, like he could black out and topple over right into the pile of his sickness at any moment and Tony needed to spare him that. He knew from far too many experiences how humiliating that was to wake up to. He didn't want to touch Loki until he let him so he needed Loki to move over by himself. He had to coax him a bit to get him to do so, and he saw the pain in Loki's face as he moved. Abomination had probably hurt him in some way.

Loki shuffled over until he and Tony were sitting opposite each other at the mouth of the cave where the fresh air and scents of the forest below could help him clear his mind, then his energy ran out and he slumped forwards. Tony caught him in a hold and he burrowed his face into Tony's neck.

"I'm so disgustingly weak," he muttered, filled with self-loathing.

"Fuck that. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"I shouldn't have lost my mind like this. It was just a tiny object and it wasn't even close to me. Now in hindsight I know it wasn't even _that_ serum. It was of absolutely no threat at all and yet I... It's bad enough that you've kept seeing me at my weakest. Now they have too. It's shameful."

"Not shameful in the slightest," Tony said softly and held him tighter. "With everything they put you through... You're still recovering. Your body has begun healing but the mind always needs more time. Sometimes even the smallest things can set it off but it does _not_ make you weak."

He had never imagined that one day he'd repeat Pepper and Rhodey's words to him to someone else. They'd probably be shocked with awe that he'd actually listened, much less remembered.

He took a hold of Loki's wrists and started untying the rope that bound them. Loki's hands immediately went to rub them, scratching at both the new bruises and the old long-since faded ones.

They sat like that for a moment before Tony moved them down into a lying position. He loosened his hold to give Loki the opportunity to move away if he wanted, but Loki remained where he was; slightly on top of Tony with his face in his neck and his arm clutched over Tony's body in a tight grip. He even moved one of his legs up to trap Tony's legs underneath it. Tony tightened his hold again and let one of his hands softly caress Loki's back.

They lied together in silence for a long time before Tony opened his mouth.

"I was kidnapped some years ago," he spoke quietly, to not rouse Loki if he'd already fallen asleep again. "I was betrayed by my mentor, the one person who had felt more like a father to me than my own dad. He wanted them to kill me, but they took me out to a cave the middle of nowhere instead. I was to make weapons for terrorists and they tortured me until I agreed. When I got back home... I could barely sleep, and when I did, I had to have the lights on. Like a scared child. I kept having nightmares, of what they did to me, of what my weapons would do if they'd managed to get them. I couldn't stand being in dark rooms, or be underwater. To look at the hole in my chest. It all made me panic and I needed my friends Pepper and Rhodey to help calm me down. I never even told them this much but they were always there to guide me out whenever my mind got trapped back there again."

Even though Loki probably was asleep and hadn't listened it still felt good to let it out. To feel like he had finally reached a conclusion on that specific chapter in his life. There were still the issues of the more recent nightmares of falling through space and wormholes and crashing from the sky, but he hadn't had them since he'd rescued Loki and bringing up Loki's failed attempt at conquest wasn't high on Tony's list right now anyway.

"Did you kill them?"

Tony thought back to the Afghani cave, creating his first suit, killing everyone he could see, watching Obadiah die.

"Yeah. I killed them all."

Loki stroked his hand over Tony's torso in an almost possessive manner.

"Good. Or I would have gladly ripped them all to pieces for daring to lay a hand on you."

Tony supposed it was an endearing thing for Loki to say. He felt the corner of his lips tilt upward.

 

***

 

It took far longer than Steve would have liked, but he and Clint had eventually made their way to the battle scene. Hulk and Abomination launched themselves at one another and threw the other away at some distance but still managed to keep somewhat close to what once had been a small clearing in the forest but now was simply nothing more than the only area cleared of debris as the two had destroyed much of the surrounding nature in their violent fight.

Steve figured that this is where they'd left Loki and probably thought he'd still remain for the victor.

The helicopter was still hovering nearby, there had been a few close calls but they'd had an incredible amount of luck on their side, to both avoid getting hit in the fray or grabbed by Abomination to be used as a weapon or hostage. They were broadcasting live and SHIELD should really show up at any moment to help take care of their lost ward.

Steve and Clint kept well out of the camera's sight as they climbed up a tree that'd still remained relatively intact. Now all they could do was wait for their enemy to get close enough...

"You only get one shot at this, don't miss," Steve reminded Clint after Hulk had plummelled Abomination into their direction.

"When have I ever?" Clint lightheartedly scoffed as he aimed a special arrow at his target.

It was difficult, no doubt about it. The fight was still going strong and sometimes Hulk ended up in the way, causing Clint to halt his attack. It took another few moments for him to properly recalculate the projectile, and once he fired Steve held his breath, as if even the slightest exhale would somehow change the arrow's course. Clint quickly reloded his bow with two more arrows that he shot right away.

The first arrow flew in a curved line and hit the target right in his opened mouth. Its specifically modified design pushed the adamantium-enforced syringe into Abomination's skin and pumped him full of the drugs. The two other arrows hit him at both his ears with huge explosions to create a diversion.

Abomination staggered back and Hulk quickly took the opportunity to jump on him, his movements were getting heavy and sluggish and Hulk had no problems with knocking him out.

Steve and Clint let out sighs of relief as the biggest threat was dealt with. Now they just needed to calm Hulk down before he smashed Abomination into pieces, live for the whole world to see.

They wandered over to the two. Clint stopped at a safe distant but Steve got closer, trusting that his enhanced body could survive in case Hulk accidentally turned his anger onto him.

"There, there, Big Guy. He's out, he's not a threat anymore. You've won, you can calm down now."

He kept repeating the words, his voice soothing yet had a clear commanding tone to remind Hulk that Captain America was the leader of the team. He didn't have anymore of the scent bombs and had to put all his faith into hoping that Hulk would listen to orders. Eventually Hulk stopped punching Abomination's face and turned to him.

"I want Loki. I want my mate!"

"He's safe, we have him. You'll meet him soon if you just calm down for now, okay? Can you give me Bruce?"

Steve sincerely hoped that the news team hadn't been able to pick up Hulk's loud demand, the last thing he wanted was for the world to know of the things that had transpired.

He feared for one moment that Hulk would bolt off in search for Loki, but instead he gave a small nod and closed his eyes, his breathing calmed down and within a few minutes he had transformed back into Bruce. Steve hurriedly went to shield him from the helicopter's view as it went down for landing close by to let the crew out.

"Captain America! Can we have a moment with you, please?"

Clint rolled his eyes at the hungry vultures wanted to get an interview but said nothing as he immediately went to Bruce's side to help him recover while Steve led the news team away.

"Jenna Gomez for Channel Five, we're standing here live with Captain America after having witnessed a colossal fight between the Hulk and what appears to be the Abomination, known for the destruction of Harlem eight years ago. Captain, can you tell us how this happened? How could such a dangerous convict escape?"

"I honestly don't know the details of his escape but I assure you," Steve said and looked firmly into the camera, "the Avengers will always be ready to face these threats. The American people will have nothing to fear."

"How united are the Avengers? We've got reports from earlier today that you've been fighting your own; appearantly Iron Man has--"

"It was a case of stolen Stark tech." Steve hated to lie, but when he had no other choice he could do it rather well... if he avoided eye-contact. It was easier to lie to a camera than to the reporter. "We tracked it down and it resulted in a small skirmish. The tech has been retrieved and no one was injured."

"So it is simply a coincidence that Tony Stark has been missing for the last two weeks?"

"Stark has his own private life that I don't have any rights to comment on. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to get ready to take this guy back to where he belongs."

The reporter thanked him and finished the broadcast before getting back into the helicopter. Steve was sure they kept the camera rolling for an upcoming segment but atleast they were out of the way for now - and more importantly, they hadn't seemed to have overheard Hulk's words.

A large jet from SHIELD arrived about twenty minutes later. The agents attached levitation tech on Abomination to lift him slightly above the ground, enough atleast for them to push his body into the jet with relative ease. One agent had even been considerate enough to bring Bruce a new set of clothes and Steve accepted them with a tight smile. He'd never let any of them near Bruce again, and he declined a ride back to New York with claiming that they had their own ride nearby.

Clint had said that his car would still work, so the plan for now was for them to get Bruce somewhere safe to recover with Clint while Steve got a new car to get back to Tony and Loki... if only he could trust that those two would remain here for that amount of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, hopefully this one will be better than 2016.
> 
> A thousand apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, It's been mostly finished since October but I never got satisfied with it. Still aren't but at some Point one just has to let go and keep moving on. I'd planned to use Abby more but have to cut things short as I really want to get this fic finished! But who knows if he'll show up again, after all he knows Stark & Loki are with Steve, thus the Avengers have lied to SHIELD..... dun dun duuuunnn.
> 
> And before I get negative comments regarding Loki and his total breakdown, he's had a seriously rough day, okay. Give him a break. And yes, this is the weakest he'll be in this story and he's gonna get tougher from here on out. He's still aiming to get one hell of a revenge and I can't wait to write that!


	15. Chapter 15

Tony woke from his nap by the complete silence. It took him a few seconds to remember why that was so remarkable and his hand flew up to his ear-piece to switch it back on again.

"So I take it Abby's out of the game?" he spoke softly, barely above a whisper, to not disturb Loki whom was still sleeping atop of him, his skinny body still unexpectedly heavy which rendered Tony pretty much immobile.

"Yeah," Steve confirmed. "SHIELD's taken him back and everything was filmed by a news crew, I doubt we'll see him again. SHIELD would have a hard time explaining how he could 'escape' twice in such a short amount of time."

"Awesome. I don't say it often but sometimes you and Legolas totally have your moments."

"I'm glad you occasionally deem us worthy of such praise. Anyway, here's the plan for now; I'll follow Clint and Bruce to the nearest town to get a car, then come back for you two, so you can absolutely not wander off. Is that clear?"

"No wandering, got it."

"And no flying."

"Damn. How about--"

"No."

"Have you spent a lot of time with Pepper recently, by any chance? You sound remarkably just like her."

Steve let out an amused chuckle, "Just stay where you are, alright? I'll get back as soon as I can."

Tony switched off his earpiece and looked down at Loki sleeping on his chest. He looked pretty banged up, even from Tony's limited view the bruises on his face stood out like a sore thumb, not to mention the red skin on Loki's neck from where the collar had continuously zapped him.

The collar itself was in a disastruous condition. From the looks of it, it would seem that Abomination had tried to pry it off, undoubtedly because of Loki's persuation, but why had he stopped? Had the pieces of vibranium proved to be too strong to break even for him, or had Abomination left it in such a state on purpose?

The latter was most likely, it would not only have weakened Loki even farther from protecting himself physically but also would've shut him up from trying to make deals.

On rare occassions it happened that Tony would realise that some of his creations weren't particularly clever. It was even rarer that he'd admit such a thing out loud of course, but this might turn out to be one of those times.

The collar itself was magnificent for its purpose, but his added touch of electric shocks was probably one of the worst ideas he'd ever had. To his defense, he'd had no affection for Loki when he did it, and he'd had no idea that Loki's imprisonment would consist of such brutal tortures.

It had been implemented first and foremost to stop Loki himself from trying to take it off, but seeing as how the dented collar had kept zapping him all throughout his breakdown earlier, Tony knew he had no choice but to...

To what?

Remove the collar entirely?

He'd been just about to do it when they'd faced Abomination. Loki's powers, whatever they may be, would have been a thousand times more useful at the time than being locked away.

But now?

If Tony gave Loki his freedom back now, he'd vanish from the face of the Earth. Literally.

Still keeping it on, after everything, kept Loki in an unimagineable risk. Even as awesome as Tony was, he couldn't save him from everything. Abomination had showed that perfectly clear. And Tony would be damned if he failed to keep Loki from SHIELD's clutches.

Although there was always the third option. Tony mulled it over for a bit, contemplating how well it would work practically versus in theory as he eyed the collar. He could feel it vibrate against his skin where Loki was lying on him, could hear the constant hum, feel the unsteady ups and downs of the energy that kept Loki's powers in check, the constant tiny zaps of the broken electronics. Loki was lying perfectly still since he'd blacked out so the zaps would've been barely noticeable, but if he would've moved around suddenly, or even just coughed or sneezed, they would increase to punishing heights.

Even though Tony had already disabled the mechanism that caused the elctronic zaps, Abomination had messed up the whole collar enough for the wirework to act on its own. That would have to be the very first thing Tony would fix whenever they got access to the tools needed. Until then there was not really much even the great Tony Stark could do.

He sighed as he dropped all thoughts of the collar and instead started to stroke Loki's hair affectionally, even making a few braids with one hand as he had nothing else to do until the other woke up.

Loki took his time, he must've been beyond exhausted, but as soft summer rain began to fall in the afternoon, he started to stir.

"Good evening, Snowflake. Thought you were going to sleep the entire day away."

"Hmmm," Loki answered as he burrowed his face into Tony's neck. He took a moment to listen to his surroundings and being met with only the rain against the mountain made him relax further. He felt safe.

"Are you feeling up to continuing where we left off before Abby so rudely interrupted us on our voyage west?"

"I'm quite content right here, actually," Loki murmured as he gripped harder around Tony with his arm and leg. "We have shelter, water and whatever food nature provides, no beasts... you. What more would one desire?"

"As amazing as I am, I for one wouldn't mind a soft bed, filtered water, real food, technology, toilets, showers, cheese burgers--"

"Point taken," Loki said and let out a laugh that quickly turned into a pained hiss as his ribs were jolted.

"--and proper medical care. Are you hurt?"

"He cracked a few of my ribs," Loki grunted. "I'd forgotten about it. I've endured worse."

Tony studied Loki carefully as he slowly moved to sit on his knees. He lifted Loki's shirt, decidedly ignoring the small tremble Loki failed to hide when he'd reached out towards him. Like hell he was going to let Loki become wary of his touches again after what they'd done. Loki's torso was painted red and purple with bruises and Tony couldn't help but to wince at the sight.

"Is it going to heal normally by itself or do you need to get them wrapped?"

"Just leave them be," Loki waved him off.

He pulled down his shirt and took a deep breath before standing up carefully, he leaned on his arm against the cave walls to support his wobbly legs.

Tony sat up and stretched out, making the joints pop and his sore back scream in protest. He mentally promised his back no more cave floors, it was all plush mattrasses from here on out. He made it up to his feet far less gracefully than he would've liked. Once he was up his suit moved to encapsule him and he held out an arm to Loki, who stepped forward to place his arms over Tony's shoulders while Tony took a hold around his waist.

On Loki's request, Tony flew down to the creek below the mountain to let Loki quickly wash up. He himself would wait until he had access to filtered water from a tap but Loki didn't have any qualms about nature and cooties and whatever factory waste the creek might be infested with.

Loki washed his face, ran wet fingers through his tussled hair and rinsed his mouth, and when he was done Tony flew them to their wrecked Cadillac in search of anything useful that might've remained. Well, Tony searched; Loki sat down in the shelter under a tree to keep away from the light rain.

The wild critters had already gone through everything to take anything edible but he had managed to find one Snickers bar hidden among a pile of debris and handed it over to Loki who immediately started to munch on it.

Tony sent a quick text to Steve; _'Change of plans, stay with Bruce, meet us in New Mexico'_ along with the adress of his newly acquired estate before shutting off his phone and started to collect some clothes, tools and any trace that could lead back to them, like the little robofrog he'd made. He only took enough to fill one bag as they had to travel lightly.

Tony took one last look around to see if there was anything he had missed when he spotted a Loki-sized dent in the ground some distance away and remembered how Loki had pushed him away from one of Abomination's attacks to take the brunt force of the hit himself. He felt his mouth stretch out into a smile and turned to walk towards Loki, whom raised an eyebrow against his smiling face but didn't say anything as he moved to stand up.

Tony put his arm around his waist and pulled him tight.

"Thanks for saving my life back there, by the way," he added a playful wink before pulling the face-plate down and took to the air before Loki got the chance to reply.

They passed a few smalltowns before Tony lowered down in a small forest outside of Birmingham, close to an almost empty road but still out of sight of everyone passing by. It had set them back on the road by a number of miles from their destination but it was the biggest city in the area and therefor the largest chance of finding what he sought.

"My suit's not in the best condition so we're gonna have to make a small pitstop," Tony explained as Loki sat down under a tree. "I'd bring you along but, no offense, you look like hell and people are probably going to assume I'm your abusive husband or kidnapper or something. Just stay here and I'll be right back."

Loki was either too tired to argue, or he was waiting for Tony to leave so he could escape. After all he still didn't know that there was a tracker on his collar, but Tony hoped that he could trust the god enough to leave him here without him hijacking a passing car and taking off.

He took to the air again to get to where Jarvis directed him, and made a sneaky landing in an empty alley where his suit quickly disassembled and put itself together into a suitcase.

He headed down a busy street and put on a cap and sunglasses he'd snatched when passing by a vendor before crossing the road to his destination. He opened the doors and entered the building when a poshly clad salesman shook his head and waved his arms, the meaning clear but easily dismissed as Tony ventured deeper inside the store as if he owned it instead of turning to leave.

"Excuse me sir, but we're closing for the day."

"I won the lottery and have money to spend," Tony countered in his best Alabama accent topped with a huge shit-eating grin. "Surely you wouldn't mind working another five minutes for the bonus."

The salesman looked him over in doubt, taking in Tony's quite dishevelled state.

"Uh huh," he said with the air of someone who completely lacked conviction.

"Yeah, so either you sell me your most expensive car, or I'm taking my money elsewhere."

The salesman seemed to slowly realise that Tony was being absolutely serious, and he stuttered an apology as he guided Tony to the car he had in mind.

"This way, sir! This is the brand new Jaguar XJ Supercharged, automatic transmission, rear-wheel drive, and 5 liter 8 cylinder engine with 470 horsepower. 100 grand with the extras."

Tony looked it over with a few short nods.

"It's nice. But what I had in mind is more like _that_ one."

He pointed over his shoulder to the orange Lamborghini Aventador standing a a short distance away and the salesman almost dropped his jaw. The car was insanely expensive and was only in stock because the supposed buyer had dropped out.

"It must've been quite the winning ticket you got, Mr...?"

"Kirk Lazarus," Tony introduced himself. "And yeah, couldn't believe it when I first saw it but there it was. All the right numbers in all the right places and the whole shebang."

The man nodded enthusiastically as he led Tony to his office for the paperworks.

Meanwhile, Loki was still sitting under the tree where Tony had left him.

He should've left. He kept telling himself he was an idiot for remaining where he was, this was the perfect opportunity for him to leave Stark and make his own way. He would undoubtedly run into someone who could try to pry off the damned collar, so it wasn't that thing that still kept him grounded. But he stayed still, eyes closed but every other sense on high-alert to not get sneaked up on.

It took about an hour since Stark had left when he heard an engine unlike the others. The vehicle screeched to a stop at the edge of the road and honked enthusiastically ten times.

Loki grabbed the bag and made his way towards the road but still kept himself out of sight in case it was just stupid Midgardian teenagers. He saw the sleek orange vehicle and the man sitting inside it but still didn't approach, part of him still urging to get away.

"Loki? You here? Damn, was pretty sure this is where I left him..."

Stark honked a few more times and Loki finally made up his mind.

"The way you're going at it, you might as well lit up a dozen beacons to let everyone know your whereabouts," he chided. "Same with the car itself."

Tony had a huge grin on his face as he flailed his arms in some motion of showing the car off to its spectator.

"I figured that since we're not hiding from the Avengers anymore, I can finally take you out on a proper ride, baby!"

Loki raised an unimpressed eyebrow and remained where he was. Tony rolled his eyes with a humorous exaggeration.

"Oh forgive me. I meant I've brought forth a carriage of the outmost quality Midgård has to offer, Your Highness," Tony said before his eyes twinkled with glee as he pressed down on the gas pedal to run the engine. "700 horses, listen to that sweet roar. Now get that butt of yours inside this beast, baby."

Loki wrinkled his nose at the new petname Tony seemed intent on using but took a few steps closer to the car.

"That's it, honeybuns," Tony said encouragingly and Loki almost turned around right then and there, but instead gave him a bemused stare as he rounded the car to get into the passenger seat.

If it had been Th-- people from Loki's past, he would have unleashed his sharp tongue at them for their continued annoyance but as he watched Tony's face light up with such an expectant boyish grin, resembling an excited puppy, Loki couldn't help but to smile back. The idiot mortal was too adorable for his own good.

"Alright, my candied vascular system pump, show me what it can do."

Tony let out a delighted laugh as he realised he'd just been called Loki's sweetheart, and he put the car into gear and took off with the wheels squealing. The speed increased drastically, making their hearts race faster with the sudden rush of adrenaline, and soon enough it felt as though they were flying over the road. Tony laughed with glee and Loki couldn't help but to grin like a fool; clearly Tony had been rubbing off on him.

 

***

 

They reached Tony's ranch by noon after driving almost non-stop at breath-taking speed whenever possible. The road to the isolated location wasn't in the best kept condition, and even though Tony drove slowly with comfort mode on it still jolted Loki every now and then which made the collar zap him.

"There's a cabin at the furthest end of the grounds, that's where Bruce is going to stay," Tony said. "He'll not be anywhere near you, but he's going to be close by in case we need his backup. Is that all right with you?"

Loki's eyes widened a small fraction, barely even noticable if Tony hadn't observed him so intently just then and there. He was surprised to have been asked if it was okay with him, as if he'd had an actual choice in the matter, and he wondered what would happen if he said no. Would Tony respect his wishes and house the monster elsewhere? He suspected that yes, he would. Probably in a motel in the town they'd passed half an hour earlier.

He wished to say no, but he knew he wasn't out of trouble just yet. SHIELD might make a move again, and there was always the threat of Asgård looming. Having been taken so easily by Abomination had made Loki realise just how exposed he was without the use of his magic. Weak, like Thor and his friends had always mocked him for whenever he resorted to his illusions and tricks instead of fighting hands on like them.

"Yeah, that's all right," he replied. "Just keep him away from me."

Tony nodded with a sad, strained smile, his heart clenching with hurt over the whole situation, for both Loki and Bruce.

"Of course."

They continued on their way, passing a few greenhouses, workshops and barns before they reached their destination; a two-story villa overlooking a sparsely grassed wasteland as far as the eye could see.

Although only resently evacuated by the former owner, all buildings had already been covered with thin layers of sand and dust from the nearby desert and this was no different. Nothing had been vandalized or ransacked by the bored local teens though or occupied by squatters, dirt aside it was in prime condition.

Loki couldn't decide if the desolation made him feel safe or even more trapped.

Tony parked the car and started to unload the groceries and clothes they'd bought, then went up the stairs to the large front doors and unlocked them with they key he'd picked up earlier from the local brokers' office in town. The interior was spotlessly clean and mostly furnished as requested. A roomy hallway with a large kitchen and living room and a smaller study were located on the first floor, with three bedrooms and a bathroom on the upper floor.

Tony went straight to the kitchen to load the refrigerator with their food while Loki looked around the house. There were a few basic furniture and paintings on the walls to make it look more homely, most of it seemed to have been left by the previous owner as no longer desirable to use in their new home, but the rest, such as the television and the lush sofa, had been brought by the real estate agent per Tony's request and an additional hefty fee.

Tony soon joined him and stretched with a content sigh.

"First things first. How about a shower before we do anything else?"

"Sounds absolutely delightful."

They unpacked their brand new towels and soaps and as Loki went to the bathroom, Tony made the bed while he waited for his turn.

Five minutes later Loki emerged from the bathroom, with hot steam slipping out before the door shut behind him. Tony knew he shouldn't stare but he couldn't help it. Loki only wore a towel around his hips and while yes, he had seen his body before, it was only now that he noticed how it looked exactly as soft as it had felt on his lips and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to get another taste.

Loki maintained eye contact with him as he walked – no, sauntered – over to the bed and sat down. Lied back with a soft sigh and his arms above his head, his dark wet hair spilling out, his eyes hooded in delight.

"Your turn," his deep smooth voice caressed Tony's ear channels.

Tony let out a groan of want and stepped forward to sink down on the bed next to the god but something suddenly stopped him. He glanced down to his chest where Loki's foot kept him at bay. His eyes then naturally traced the long, so incredibly long leg that the nicely-shaped foot was attached to.

The most definitely not delicate ankle, the shapely calf and the slender thigh that disappered underneath the white towel which had slipped slightly but still blocked the view of Loki's crotch. Tony's eyes went up over the flat stomach, the chest with those pink nipples, erect from the cooler air, up to the collared neck _with Tony's name on it_ , the smirking mouth and those astonishingly green eyes that held a strange mixture of amusement, trust and trepidation.

"Shower," Loki said and gave Tony a small nudge backwards.

"Shower," Tony agreed and swallowed down the lust that had crept up on him so swiftly.

He grabbed his towel and a fresh set of clothes and headed inside the bathroom, and as soon as he'd shut the door behind him he let out a long sigh as he leaned back against it. He rubbed his face hard with both hands to get a grip of himself before stripping and getting into the shower.

As he cleaned himself he wondered about the look in Loki's eyes. There had been a hint of hesitation, insecurity, but no fear. Quite the opposite actually, Tony definitely knew he had seen trust, and it made his chest swell with pride. That despite everything that had happened to Loki the previous day that had dragged up all those awful memories, he knew he could trust Tony to not do anything Loki didn't want to do.

Even with Tony's strong urges that had shown up so suddenly.

Tony groaned and leaned his forhead against the tiles. Where had that even come from? Yes, even in his skinny and bruised state, Loki was gorgeous. Tony knew just how even more so Loki could be once he'd regained his health.

Maybe it was that he'd seen him as good as naked for the first time since they slept together, because even then Loki'd had his shirt on. Seeing all that flesh that had been kept hidden during their most intimate moments might have triggered something primal in him to react so strongly.

Or...

Tony's eyes opened wide.

What was it Loki had told him back in the cave?

Pheromones...!

Tony stood up straight and his heart skipped a beat at the implications. Loki had been injected atleast twice with pheromones in order to make Hulk crave him. The serum had been specifically designed by SHIELD and might have side effects that no one had anticipated.

What if some of it still lingered? Had it had been the causing factor of luring Tony into making his drastic decisions to protect Loki from his own team mates? Had it crept into his subconscious from the very first moment in SHIELD's sublevel cell or was it weakened and needed all this time so close together to have an effect?

Loki had said he could still smell it. What if he'd actually meant the words literally instead of it just being so thoroughly etched into his mind?

Tony thought back on the two weeks they'd spent together, trying to remember all his thoughts and feelings regarding Loki. First and foremost there was pity and compassion for Loki in his horrible situation; anger, shame and disgust for what he himself had unknowingly helped SHIELD accomplish; recognition and sympathy from having been a tortured prisoner himself; panic and instant need to get Loki away to a safe space after the events in the Tower.

Those were all genuine feelings that Tony would have had for anyone. He tried harder to think about when things shifted.

He'd always looked at Loki, at first because he obviously needed to take in what state he was in and how much he kept improving. How Loki's daily exercises rebuilt muscles that had faded away during the years strapped down to a bed, how the bedsores covering his back slowly disappeared, how many there were that still remained.

Watching him sleeping in the soft grass of the garden after exhausting himself from training, with the warm sunshine spilling over his body, was merely Tony enjoying to watch a calm Loki at ease. His need to touch Loki without him flinching or shying away was to make Loki more comfortable in his presence... wasn't it?

Loki was attractive. Even in his current state; especially when knowing how flawless he used to look. Of course Tony wouldn't be able to keep his eyes or touches in check all the time. And being cooped up with Loki with very limited or no other outlet would push it farther because he was only human after all. An idiotic, horny human who couldn't resist when an actual god – or alien, but same ego value – sat on his lap, begging for sex.

Seeing Loki emerge from the bathroom wearing just a towel, looking so good, so _playful_ , as he lied back on the bed brought back memories of the sounds he'd made, how amazingly good he had felt rubbing against Tony, the taste of him...

Maybe there was a possibility of the pheromones still lingered in Loki, but Tony was pretty sure, atleast 86%, that things ended up like they did because of Tony. Still, it wouldn't hurt to start becoming more aware of any traces of outside influence. And with any luck, the plans he had for Loki's collar would flush any lingering traces of pheromones out of Loki's system.

He finished washing up and redressed before walking out. Loki was sitting on the bed – dressed as well, Tony noted with a hint of disappointment – and Tony stepped towards him. Tony discreetly sniffed a little as if he could suddenly sense something in the air that he hadn't noticed before, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Not that he really remembered in exact detail how Loki smelled like during the New York invasion to compare with anyway.

"How's your back?" Loki inquired with a worried look before Tony had the chance to say anything. "I used you as my pillow back in the cave, and with the long drive you haven't had the opportunity to rest yet. I only just now remembered your back was hurting you before."

Tony was honestly taken aback by Loki's consideration but quickly responded with an easy smile.

"It's been through worse. Like that junk of a car you picked for us. But I suppose if you'd offer, it might do with a little rub."

Loki smiled a little, a genuine playful smile that made Tony's heart jump. He patted the bed beside him as he asked Tony to join him, and oh all the images that were flowing through Tony's head at the moment were definitely not PG-rated.

He took a seat on the bed and Loki guided him to lie down on his stomach. Tony grabbed a pillow to rest his head on. Loki straddled his waist to reach him better and it made Tony feel a rush of heat through his body at the closeness, of him in such a vulnurable position. He closed his eyes as he felt Loki's hands begin to expertly massage him.

It was bliss.

The shower had warmed up his muscles and Loki's hands were kneading out all the knots and kinks. They started up by the shoulders and followed the spine down to the waist. Tony let out a deep moan. He almost wanted to take his shirt off to feel those long-fingered hands against his skin.

"That feels so good. Just perfect. Like you either want to bed me or ask me for a really huge favour. Or both."

Loki laughed, light and easy.

"Not from the goodness of my heart?"

"The kindest of hearts would have no need to have me all at their mercy. Oh yeah, right there. Uh!" He twisted slightly to let Loki reach the side of his torso better before he continued. "Especially with you perched so nicely on top of my ass."

"Your ass is surprisingly nice to sit upon. Round and soft."

"It's all muscles, babe."

Tony grinned over his shoulder at Loki, who smiled back at him for a moment before focusing on Tony's back.

"However since you mentioned it, there is one thing I've been wondering about."

"Yeah?"

"You mentioned you had a hole in your chest." There was a brief silence before Loki continued. "Is that why you don't take your shirt off? Or is there something you wish for me to not see? I think it has something to do with why I couldn't take command of you back then."

Tony was silent for a moment as he thought things over. Loki's hands kept massaging him, not to convince him to spill his secrets but to do as intended; work his back and keep him at ease. He glanced back over his shoulder and Loki gave him a pointed look.

"You know more about me and my body than I even care to know myself," Loki stated with a slight shrug and yeah okay he did have a point there.

He didn't press for an immediate answer, he'd made his wishes known and waited patiently for Tony to make a choice with those amazing hands still at work.

Tony laid his head down on his arms again and closed his eyes. Loki was sitting comfortably on his ass and it all felt good. Really good. His touches and his weight on him made Tony start to grow hard. If Loki for whatever reason decided to pull his pants down and have his way with him, Tony would be totally okay with it.

He took a deep breath and all he could sense was the scent of the soap and shampoo that Loki had used. Not that the pheromones, if they were still around, would have a distinct smell but he figured it must be something that Bruce loved to get through to the Hulk so intensely, and Tony knew that Bruce hated coconut.

The pheromones would be more or less scentless to him anyway. Hulk and Abomination could probably still sense it due to their altered atonomy.

Tony still didn't feel affected by outer sources though, no matter how he twisted and turned things. Yet again the only outcome was that he responded to Loki because of his own nature, and he raised the figure to 97%.

"When I was kidnapped, I got exposed to my own weapons," Tony sighed. "Got a first-hand experience of what those things can do to a body. I got shrapnel in my chest, about to pierce my heart. The only way to stop them was to get an electromagnet inside, so naturally the only way to get it in there was to cut my ribs open, hence the hole. When I got back home, I upgraded it to a tiny version of an arc reactor. Much more efficient than an old car battery."

He moved over to lie on his back. Loki hadn't moved, only shifted slightly to let him roll over but now sat firmly on his groin and Tony couldn't help but to buck slightly into him.

He lifted his shirt to let Loki lay eyes on the scientific masterpiece inbedded into his chest. Loki watched it with an inquisitive look, then raised his eyes to meet Tony's.

There was a slight but determined move of Loki's hips and Tony groaned as his hips automatically responded with thrusting up against Loki. But then the raven-haired man moved down to sit on Tony's thighs instead and Tony couldn't help the sound of disappointment from the lack of the wonderful pressure.

Loki gave him a small smile as his hands unbuttoned Tony's pants to free the erection hidden inside. His right hand grabbed a hold of the hard shaft and pulled on it lightly, teasingly.

"Oh my god, Loki."

Loki's smile widened and his eyes twinkled with a streak of mischief.

"Well, yes."

He chuckled as he leaned down to kiss Tony's left nipple, his hand tightened his hold slightly to bring more pleasure. Tony eagerly thrust up to get more and his hands grabbed a light hold on Loki's head, entwined in that long black hair.

Occasionally Loki lifted his hand to lick it in order to make it glide easier on Tony, but those few seconds without Loki's hand on him was like torture, no matter how much better it felt once the wetted hand returned.

Loki was good, no scratch that, he was _excellent_ in the arts of handjobs and kissing sensitive nipples and within ten minutes he had Tony moaning beautifully as he spilled. He reached up to capture Tony's mouth in a long, soft kiss.

Once Tony's heartbeat returned to normal he broke the kiss and reached to the other side of the bed where he'd discarded his still damp towel, to clean Tony up.

"Your massages, as exquisite as they are, should always come with happy endings," Tony grinned widely, still half-lost in his post-orgasm bliss and making Loki smirk back.

"For the right person, they just might."

"Mmm, that person better know how damn lucky he is."

"For a self-proclaimed genius, he should be clever enough to know."

Loki leaned down to place a quick kiss on Tony's lips before moving to stand up on the floor. He walked over to his bag to grab an apple for himself, taking a big bite out of it, before throwing another to Tony, who almost dropped it.

Tony placed his apple firmly between his teeth as he stood up and fixed his clothes, then took a bite as he headed towards the door.

"Ready to have that thing looked at?" he asked with a nod towards Loki's collar. "Come on, time to check out the workshop."

He grabbed his StarkPad from his bag and then they made their way over to the building. Tony gestured for Loki to take a seat while he checked for all the tools that he'd requested. Most of it was, and he brought them to the work bench for easy access and set up his StarkPad to let it connect to the wifi before getting back to Loki to study the collar for the best way to remove it.

"The coverings of the electric wires are most likely completely shattered here," Tony gestured towards the crushed area. "That's why it keeps zapping you and I can't shut that off."

He wished he could scan the collar to see how it actually looked like on the inside but he'd have to go through it with his deductive logic. As Loki's magic was still securely locked away, the Vanaheim crystals were intact thanks to their covering of vibranium, which was at the most dented even from the incredible force of Abomination's fingers. The Uru thread from Svartalfheim that ran through the collar and connected the crystals shouldn't be too damaged either, no matter how much the electrical wires might have intertwined with it at the crushed part.

These otherworldy items could prove to be tricky to get out in one piece without his equipment in his own lab, but he had to take the chance. Everything else needed to make the collar work was still salvageable, he just needed to create a new shell. It should be quick and easy work... as long as Loki didn't take off once he was free.

The only way to remove it was to pry open the sealed ends at the back of Loki's neck where there was a hidden mechanism that would unlock it. Doing so would cause the collar to shock Loki at maximum level, as was the plan to keep Loki from trying to remove it himself, and there was a high risk of the crystals being destroyed. Tony had to be extremely careful; if he could keep at it longer than necessary without damaging the crystals, it might give him the time needed to forge a new collar. He didn't want to think about how shitty it made him feel.

"I'm gonna pry it off. It's going to shock you, and it's going to hurt."

Loki knew from experience, from trying to get it off himself, and from Abomination's attempt to crush it. He nodded once and Tony grabbed his tools.

As soon as Tony got started, the collar went into defense mode. Loki gritted his teeth but eventually the pain took the upperhand. He let out a distressed sound that escelated into a yell.

"Just take it off already, Stark!"

"That's what I'm doing! It's meant to do this to keep your hands off of it."

"You'd much rather have my hands on you," Loki couldn't help himself despite making pained noises from the never-ending onslaught.

"After this is done you can have your hands anywhere you want on me, babe. Except for maybe around my neck."

"T-trust issues?" Loki gasped, unable to make any other noise as his eyes started to darken.

"Nothing personal, Snowflake," Tony said as his right hand held the tool that kept pressing down on the collar and stroked his left-hand fingers in a calming manner through Loki's hair.

Loki let out a shuddering breath before he lost consciousness and slumped over. Tony held him steady with his free hand while he kept digging into the collar for a few moments longer, to be on the safe side, before the seal broke. He then reached for the hidden mechanism that would unlock the collar, and with one last punishing zap to Loki it opened up.

Tony held the collar in his hands and looked over to the temporarily freed god that had passed out in his workshop. Loki's neck was an ugly colour palette from the continuous bruisings. But most remarkable was that nothing seemed to happen.

Tony didn't know what he had expected. Maybe for Loki to be covered in a shimmering light of magic that would make him hover in the air while it healed him, like in that one Disney movie. Maybe even for the Bifrost and all the crazy space vikings to show up on his doorstep.

But everything was still and quiet and non-shimmering.

Eventually Tony got going with his job; he needed to see if the crystals were safe, then salvage what he could in order to make a new – and more humane – collar. He figured if Loki's magic was healing him in his unconscious state, it probably worked on his insides first before the superficial wounds, sores and bruises.

The most important things, the crystals and the Uru thread, had survived the ordeal and were still in a pristine condition. With the electrical works removed from the new design, thus being able to slim it down, the scraps from the old collar should prove to be enough to completely form a new one.

He kept glancing over at Loki while he worked but the man didn't move; seated in his chair with his upper body over the work bench.

The wifi access was weaker than Tony liked despite his enhancers but he could access his private servers from here – and Jarvis, oh the sweet relief to have his precious AI with him while he worked! – and used most references from his old blueprints to recreate it into something better.

It took only about an hour, with thirty minutes spent on getting the sensitive wirings of the Uru thread connected to the Vanaheim crystals in the correct places. He'd managed to get the collar looking sleeker than its predecessor and even touched up a little on his logo on it, making it look brighter against the hotrod red surrounding it.

He ran a few tests on the digital version and it seemed to hold but only time would tell if the real version would be as safe. He lifted it and looked over it one last time before walking over to Loki.

There was a hint of green shimmering on Loki's skin, Tony noted. Most of the old bruises had faded and his neck didn't look quite as mistreated. He hesitated; part of him – the rebellious side that did what he wanted and listened to no one – wanted to take a chance on letting Loki remain uncollared. The other part of him urged him onwards; he knew just what power Loki could unleash onto Earth if he sought revenge, and Tony did not want to be the cause of it happening again.

He snapped the collar in place and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

The shimmering disappeared abruptly. Maybe Tony should've let Loki be for another few minutes, but his insides must have fully healed and that was the most important thing. The remaining bruises would go away in due time.

He put on his protective goggles, grabbed the welder and sealed the collar.

Loki was out for another two hours. Tony had moved him to lie fully on the work bench before going into his private servers to continue his work on an old project; something he and Bruce were going to create – _should have_ created – years ago before they let SHIELD's plans with scent bombs take over. This had been Bruce's idea on how Tony could stop him if he went out of control but Tony hadn't devoted his time to finishing it as he should have, because Hulk seemed pretty much in control during the Battle and the following skirmishes that the Avengers had found themselves in and he'd figured that if they could manage to calm the Hulk down then, they could keep doing so in the future as well, especially if the handy scent bombs actually worked. He'd pretty much dismissed the idea and it was all on him.

The Hulkbuster.

Hulk's possessive desire of Loki and Abomination getting away with him so easily spurred Tony on to finish the last things needed to make it work. It would take a considerable time to construct the pieces and weaponry and to forge it all together, especially out here where he didn't have access to all the items, but now was as good time as any to get started.

He had Jarvis track down all the useable items in all the surrounding cities while he hunted down all metal scraps he could find in the workshop to get started. If he could built his first Iron Man suit in a cave in Afghanistan, he could damn well build a Hulkbuster out here in New Mexico.

Because even if his plans on Loki's new collar worked as intended, Loki still might need him as a backup. Besides the threats of Hulk and Abomination, there was Thor as well.

He worked relentlessly until he heard Loki groan and shift as he woke up. He put his project aside and went over to him, his hand on Loki's arm to make his presence known before Loki was awake enough to take in his surroundings.

"Hey, honeybuns," Tony greeted softly when Loki opened his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Like you've electrocuted me."

"In my defense, I have to say I've electrocuted myself atleast a dozen times and I'm still alive so a viking god like you should be back on your feet in no time."

"Well that's reassuring," Loki huffed out a laugh, tensed with the anticipation of the punishing zaps, but frowned as there weren't any.

He reached up to his neck and felt the collar there. Smaller, slimmer, lighter.

"How are you feeling?"

Loki took a moment to become aware of himself. His insides weren't hurting. The sores and bruises on his skin didn't itch quite as much.

"I'm... fine."

He sounded confused and Tony smiled as he helped him to sit up.

"Your magic showed up when I removed the collar. I don't know how it works but I think it fixed as much as it could."

Loki bit his lip. Being hurt and in pain had, despite the discomfort, been a great aid in getting under Tony's skin. All cards he had kept hidden up his sleeve were useless now, but he supposed he'd made enough progress with Tony to continue moving on to bigger tricks. Tony _did_ trust him to a point, after all. Him showing Loki the arc reactor in his chest certainly proved that. Unfortunately Tony's trust didn't extend to keeping the collar off of him completely after removing it, but Loki wasn't disheartened.

He ran a hand over his ribs and stomach, all that remained was the sore feeling of bruises that had yet to completely fade. On a more psychological level he felt more calm than just hours before; getting back what had been lost to him for so long had soothed his mind even when unconscious. He could still feel a few traces of it, not enough to be rendered into something useful but still present enough to make him feel like he was on the right path of finding himself again.

He turned his head to look Tony straight in the eyes.

"Thank you," he spoke softly, and honestly.

It was already the fourth time Loki had found himself thanking Tony. The mortal should feel proud of himself, being the only creature other than Frigga that had gotten to hear those words repeatedly with a true intention.

Tony practically beamed at the words, as if he knew just how rare it was to hear them.

"I do have a couple of surprises for you," he said and gestured back towards the blueprint hologram.

Loki turned to watch it, he tilted his head as he tried to understand what the surprise was.

"A new suit?"

"Not just any suit," Tony explained as he walked over to grab the StarkPad in order to bring it closer and show Loki details of the suit's size. "It's the Hulkbuster. Bruce and I, we started designing it a while back. In case the Hulk got out of control and needed to be taken down. It's going to take some time to actually finish but in case you'd ever need my help with him, I'll be there." He looked at Loki for a while. Loki didn't meet his gaze, he kept his eyes steadily on the blueprint to avoid showing Tony all the emotions he knew he failed to keep away. "It should also be strong enough to take on Thor, if needed."

_That_ had Loki looking at him, eyes wide open. Confusion, suspicion, gratitude, shame, pride, pain, fondness, hurt, Tony saw it all in them.

"You know, just in case my other surprise doesn't work quite as I've intended it to," he shrugged nonchalantly as he picked up a small device.

He pressed a button and Loki gasped and swayed in his seat as if lightheaded.

"Tony, by the Norns...?!"

Tony leaned back against the work bench as he observed the other.

"How does it feel?"

Loki looked at him and his entire face showed emotions, not just his eyes. There was none of the negative or painful ones, these were just from pure joy. He laughed, astounded and thrilled. He looked so beautiful like that and Tony felt his heart skip a beat.

Loki looked down at his hands where a slight shimmer of green morphed into butterflies, dragonflies, tiny fireworks. He didn't have all of his magic back, more like drops from a leaking faucet than a steady stream, but it was more than he'd had for so many years. His mind felt at peace for the first time for far too long.

"What did you do?" he asked, his voice filled with awe.

How could he have access to his magic when collared?

"Abby showed me that having your skills locked away wasn't very clever," Tony replied, unable to take his eyes off of the beautiful god in front of him. "I figured if I could find a way for the crystals to disconnect briefly, you'd have access to it so you can fight and defend yourself."

Loki looked back at him with those huge green eyes of his, filled with unshed tears of joy.

Tony pressed on his device again which opened up the stream further. Loki closed his eyes as he let himself become lost in the sensations, a few tears managed to escape and run down his cheeks but he was too delighted to bother wipe them away.

"I want you to try and escape the collar," Tony said. "Like, teleport out of it or turn yourself into something smaller."

Loki frowned with suspicion but did as Tony asked. There wasn't enough for him to teleport or transform into another creature – such things required far too much magic – but surely he could make himself just slightly smaller.

Only it didn't work and all magic was instantly lost to him as the crystals snapped shut inside the collar to prevent him from doing so. He felt empty.

Tony noticed immediately and let the tiny trickle of magic seep through to him again.

"For our precaution," he explained. "Figured it was better to just shut it all off instead of zapping you."

Loki didn't reply, instead he stood up and turned to face Tony, crowding him into the work table behind him. He placed his hands on the table to effectively keep Tony in place.

"Regarding your question earlier..." He leaned down to mouth at Tony's jaw. "I feel fantastic."

He kissed Tony, his hands grabbed a hold of him and the magic sweeped out over Tony's skin, making the man feel for himself just how fantastic it was.

It tickled him as it went over him, delightfully so, and he moaned into Loki's mouth and thrust his hips into his.

Loki lifted him up onto the table and Tony wrapped his legs around him. They rocked together slowly through their layers of clothes for a moment before Loki pulled back just enough for them to pull their pants down and cocks out.

Loki wrapped his left hand around the both of them before attacking Tony's neck with kisses and those soft words in a foreign language. Tony recognised them from two nights earlier, when Loki had whispered them while lost in pleasure. He wondered if they held the same meaning now. The paranoid part of him wondered if they were a spell but the thought was quickly cast aside as Loki touched him just right.

Loki used a combination of his magic and his slick pre-come as lubrication to glide his hand easier, and it felt like nothing Tony had ever experienced before; it tingled and tickled, like one of those special lubes but a hundred times more intense. He grabbed a hold of Loki's shirt and lifted it over the god's head, eager to get access to the soft pale skin underneath, to cover it with bites and kisses and nail scratches – new marks of pleasure to replace old ones from pain.

Once Loki's shirt was off, the god was eager to remove Tony's, to have as much as possible of their flesh against one another. The coolness of the arc reactor against Loki's chest made the tall man moan and stroke them faster. Tony could only hold on and enjoy the ride.

Only once they had both climaxed and his head had started to clear, could Tony realise that this had probably been Loki's way of showing gratitude, for Tony having enough faith in him to let him have back atleast some of his magic. He certainly didn't mind but if he continued to get Loki like this, so open and raw, it could turn into an addiction. With the way Loki was panting shakily into his neck as he came down from his high, with both of them holding one another in such a strong grip, it would be so worth it.

 

***

 

Clint, Bruce and Steve arrived in the evening. Tony left Loki alone in the villa while he went to the gate to welcome them and set down a few ground rules. Or atleast he was about to when Steve opened his mouth.

"I thought I told you to stay put."

"Nice to see you too Cap, and why yes we did have a nice trip, thanks for asking."

"You could have put both of yourselves in danger, Stark."

"But you three had already handled the danger so there was nothing left for us to fear," Tony countered with a charming smile, making Steve sigh.

"SHIELD could have still tried to make a move," he said. "Asgård as well. You should have waited for me."

"To be fair we did try that for atleast five minutes, we grew bored. _Anyway_ , welcome to my ranch. Yeehaw."

He shoo'd Clint away from the passenger seat so he could take over it. Clint rolled his eyes and climbed into the back next to Bruce.

"Now let's go take a look at where you're going to stay. I'd love to take my car but it's too posh to be offroad."

"It'd get stuck in the nearest dip in the field," Clint smirked.

"Sometimes cars are too sexy to be fully functional and that's okay," Tony stated like a wise sage. "Cap, go down that path and into the field over there. There's a small cabin at the other end."

"Are we okay with leaving Loki unguarded?" Bruce asked as he eyed the Lamborghini.

"I'm keeping him busy," Tony shrugged. "Cleaning up the house and such."

Loki having access to his magic, no matter how limited, stayed their own little secret. And as Loki hadn't yet stolen a car to leave him, he very much doubted Loki would do so now. Also there was the fondness Loki had shown Tony plenty of during the day so Tony very much hoped that had much to do with it.

It took them a good thirty minutes to reach the cabin, a small but cosy wooden structure. It consisted of a small kitchenette, a bathroom, a living room and only one bedroom but the guys would just have to bunk up; even though the villa had several bedrooms both he and Loki would be opposed to having Steve or Clint breathe down their necks all day and night.

Having them switch places and leave the Avengers with the villa and Tony and Loki in the cabin didn't sound at all appealing to Tony, especially not if he was going to keep going with the Hulkbuser in the workshop.

"Here it is," he said as he stepped out of the car.

Bruce took the key from him and went to unlock the door as Clint and Steve started to unload the car. He opened the door and peeked inside, then left it open to let it clear out the air inside as he looked back out over the fields.

They were far away enough, the villa wasn't even in sight. He should be okay with this distance to Loki, the Other Guy wouldn't show up unless called for. He noticed Tony observing him and gave him a small smile and a nod, making the man ease up and grin.

"Ground rules; if you need anything from the house, send Steve. A call ahead would be nice so you don't walk into anything that would scar your virgin eyes for the rest of your days."

"Dude..." Clint groaned disgusted at the mental images he got.

Steve looked as stern as he always did but it was more of still being wary of Loki rather than Tony having intimate relations with him. He had to trust that Loki posed no threat to Tony after all this time they'd spent together, and especially after what he'd witnessed of their connection in the cave.

Bruce huffed out a light chuckle, relieved that the implications of Tony's words didn't stir any form of jealousy from the Other Guy.

"In case of an emergency, stay at a distance until we have a clear view of the situation. If Loki and I can't handle it on our own, we'll add Steve to the mix, then Clint as a sniper and lastly Hulk as a big surprise. No need to show all our cards at once."

All men agreed to that plan.

Tony took one last look around the place. The distance to the villa was bigger than he'd expected and Bruce seemed calm enough to truly ease every last one of Tony's nerves about the situation. This would work out splendidly.

"Well, that's about it. I'm not really much for rules, after all. So who's gonna give me a ride back?"

"After those mental images you gave me you deserve to walk back," Clint huffed as he took a couple of bags to get them inside the cabin.

"Since Loki and I both look extremely attractive naked, your imagination should have no problems to do us justice, so you're very welcome for those images."

" _Dude._ "

"Get in the car, I'll drive you," Steve interrupted before Tony could vex Clint farther.

They didn't talk much during the ride and when they arrived and Steve shut off the engine and stepped towards the front door of the villa, Tony wasn't really surprised. He only hoped Loki was aware of their guest and didn't flaunt his access to magic at the very moment Steve would set eyes on him.

Steve found Loki in the kitchen, leaned back against the counter with a glass of water in his hand. He immediately spotted the brand new collar around Loki's neck.

"The Soldier," Loki greeted him in a biting tone, obviously not pleased about the visit.

"Loki," Steve greeted back with a short nod of his head.

Loki placed the glass aside and moved to sit on the counter like it was a throne, with his legs spread wide. Like he was a king allowing the peasants at his court, as he looked down upon them. The air about him had changed, as if he were more powerful, but there was no deadly vibe. Steve assumed it was a cover to boost Loki's ego from when they'd last met, when Loki was having a mental breakdown at the cave.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. I see Tony--" He turned to look at Tony but the other man's eyes were locked onto Loki's crotch. Steve gave him a nudge to break the spell before returning his gaze to meet Loki's. "I see Tony has made you a new collar."

"The old one was faulty."

Steve had never known a person could speak so clearly through gritted teeth but Loki seemed to have mastered the art.

"It's just as safe as the old one," Tony added as he sensed Steve's apprehension. "Loki was out cold during the switch. No funny business."

Steve had plenty of suspicions – it was _Loki_ , how could he not? – but in the end he had to step back. He didn't know anything about engineering a magic-withholding collar anyway, he'd just have to keep an extra watchful eye on Loki.

Loki rolled his eyes and went down from his counter-throne to walk over to Tony and drape himself over him.

"Tony and I wish to retire to bed for the night. You're most welcome to take one of the smaller rooms, if you wish to hear for yourself how good I treat your friend."

Steve's cheeks reddened but he let out a huffed laugh.

"I've never noticed before just how similar the two of you are."

"Thank you for the most kind compliment."

Steve shook his head with a slight smile before bidding them goodnight and left to drive back to the cabin. Loki sighed and leaned heavier onto Tony.

"Your friends are so exhausting."

"Yeah, but also sort of loveable in a way once you get past all the righteousness and get to know them."

"I don't really intend to."

Loki wrapped his arm around Tony's waist and led him out to the porch where they sat down on the porch swing hammock. The air was comfortably cool and dark sky filled with stars and hints of the Milky Way.

Tony glanced up at Loki's face. Loki still had his arm relaxedly around him.

"You look so much better," he said thoughtfully. "Like there was a piece of you missing that has been found and put into place."

Loki seemed to shine up. He'd had his magic skills for so long that all the people around him – save his mother – never noticed what an important part of him it had become. It was pleasing to know that Tony cared enough to spot the difference.

"You sound as if I were a puzzle," he smirked with a playful spark in his eyes.

"A most frustratingly difficult puzzle," Tony agreed with a fervent nodding, "The sort where the more time one keeps spending on it, the more fascinating and addicted one becomes. Like a Rubik's cube that don't want to solve no matter how correctly you twist it."

Loki laughed.

"Good, I'd hate to be a simplistic fifty-piece jigsaw."

"The absolute horror."

Tony leaned his head against Loki's shoulder and looked up at the sky, thinking of all the places and dimensions out there that Loki had told him about, how much more he was dying to find out.

"How do you know of Earth puzzles?" he asked.

"My unfortunate attack on your realm was not my first visit to Midgård."

Loki proceeded to tell him about his ventures to Earth throughout the years; quests that had led him – and his brother, though he remained carefully unmentioned – in search of sacred artifacts in all parts of the world. How they'd met kings and queens, painters and writers, how they had observed the rise and fall of countless of nations. And most excitingly, how despite Odin's strict orders to not expose themselves or to influence the mortals in any way, they had indirectly helped to start revolutions and riots, and Loki had helped promote the ideas of science in the dark ages where men and women would burn at the stake for such heretic thoughts against their church.

They'd seen the horrors of the world wars and the atomic bombs, but as terrifying as these had been to the mortals, Loki had seen similar or worse things in other worlds. While he'd had no love for the mortals, Loki and his companions did provide some help, though always to a minimum to keep it under Odin's radar. Young Loki's mischievious self just couldn't help himself.

Suddenly the idea of Loki playing with a Rubik's cube didn't seem so utterly farfetched after all. Even gods would have something to do inbetween all the questing and meddling.

Tony listened intently to every word, Loki's voice almost hypnotising him with the clarity of images it painted.

He decidedly ignored the ache in his heart from knowing that some day he'd just be another one of the many mortals Loki had encountered in his too long life, to only be remembered if Loki ever sat like this and talked with someone else about his adventures in hundreds or even thousands of years from now.

No wonder Loki'd had such low opinions on humans; everyone they'd met had long since died by the next time they'd returned. Very rarely did one person actually do anything to affect the entire humankind significantally, they were all replacable. Humans were short-lived toys that could be steered into any direction of the Aesirs' choosing, it was no different than a child leading ants into a designated path with a trail of sugar. Tony frowned at the implications of him being just another mortal that Loki was toying with, but hopefully their connection was felt both ways and he wasn't being played a fool. If so, certainly Loki wouldn't have brought these sort of ideas willingly into his head?

"I do recall this one Midgardian now, come to think of it," Loki said after a moment's pause. "We didn't spend as much time together as I would've liked I'm afraid, as my quest was leading me into another direction, but he had this incredibly brilliant mind for a mortal. He was an inventor but the technology of his time was unfortunately not always on his side yet he was determined to keep pushing the boundaries. I aided him in a few things he was working on, just a touch of subtle magic here and there to help him on his way as there was a war to be won and I respected him too much to let him die while still young. He stroked my ego just the right way, I suppose. I liked him. Arrogant as you wouldn't believe yet funny and charming, so handsome and very determined to try and bed me."

There was an honest fond smile on Loki's lips as he remembered the man and Tony most definitely did not pout but was damned close to. Was Loki really trying to make him jealous? Still he couldn't help but to wonder who it was. Probably someone like da Vinci, and he could almost picture Loki helping him create helicopters and other nifty things hundreds of years ahead of his time.

Loki looked at Tony with that beautiful smile of his and Tony couldn't look away.

"You look just like him."

Wait.

What.

Back up, rewind and play that tape again.

Tony sat up properly and shifted just a tiny fraction away from Loki.

"My dad..." He cleared his throat and tried again. "My dad _bedded_ you?"

He couldn't keep the jealousy out of his voice no matter how much effort he put into it. It was bad enough to succeed in making Tony feel jealous about a former lover but to reveal it had been Tony's own _father_?! How could Loki look so mischiveous and pleased with himself?!

"Silly human," Loki said with such fondness Tony didn't know if it made his heart soar or ache. "I said he _tried_."

"Oh.. Well, that was better."

He looked at him for a moment before placed his head back onto Loki's shoulder. A man could try his luck, he might not have fond memories of his father but he certainly couldn't fault Howard for that.

Loki placed his chin on top of Tony's head and snuck his hand under the hem of Tony's shirt to gently stroke his skin.

"He did kiss me, though."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meant to write this chapter a bit differently but this is the direction Loki & Tony decided to go. They even got intimate twice and at the second time I was like really, again?? but hey.  
> Needed to have a light chapter anyway; I'm gonna press really hard to get this fic finished instead of going at it as slowly as I've been doing now so my apologies if this and especially the following chapters feels rushed. I'd hate for this story to feel like that but I also want it to actually have an end, as it already just had its 3rd birthday on AO3. (and considering that it's actually older than that....well...)  
> My eternal gratitude to everyone who has kept reading it throughout the years!!!! You're astounding!!!! (and my condolansces to all of those who have abandoned ship)
> 
>  
> 
> And why not; here's a photo of Hiddles and Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark) for the sake of it! ;)  
> 


	16. Chapter 16

During the following ten days there were two things in particular that occupied Tony's mind, no matter how much he tried to distract himself with constructing the Hulkbuster.

First was Loki's reveal of being kissed by Howard Stark. Of all people. Loki's involvement with helping Tony's dad to create new technology was a surprise in itself, which – if Tony thought about it on a deeper level – might even mean that Loki was a part of the technology Tony had grown up with and adapted for himself. Could that somehow explain how at ease he felt with Loki's magic? But the kiss itself implied so many other things.

Howard was a playboy, like Tony himself. Of course when faced with someone as alluring and intelligent like Loki, Howard might have wanted to add him to his list of conquests. Tony couldn't help the swell of jealousy that ran through him at the mere thought of what could have happened between them, what _did_ happen. All of their conversations and their short but obviously good times together which resulted in Loki getting kissed.

He didn't know what exactly he was jealous of, though. Of Howard getting to Loki before Tony ever did – which was absurd; Tony wasn't even _born_ back then, and wow did that sound weirder than it should have – or that Loki had spent some meaningful time working together with Howard, which Tony himself never got to experience as he'd always been brushed aside as an inconveniance.

But somewhere deep within those feelings of confused jealousy was also a sense of pride. Loki had not always been the war-hungry would-be conqueror the world now knew him as. He'd aided Howard with creating things that had helped kick Nazi butts and win the war. Loki had been a relatively good guy once and Tony didn't find it too farfetched to hope that despite all the things he'd gone through, he could become one again.

The second thing that haunted his mind was how Loki seemed to use sex as a way to pay Tony back, to keep on Tony’s good side. Loki always made sure to bring Tony to climax with great enthusiasm but rarely let himself do the same, as if he had little to no interest in it.

Even though Tony had tried several times to stop him by telling Loki it wasn’t necessary, Loki had laughed it off and continued with his advances. He knew that Tony enjoyed Loki’s touches far too much, especially after experiencing what a spark of magic could do. Tony supposed he had to put his trust in that Loki offered his mindblowing handjobs out of his own free will rather than feeling obliged to. One would certainly hope that someone of Loki’s age and self esteem would know better than to feel pressured into doing anything of the sorts but considering what Loki’d been going through, it might’ve messed him up, to make him feel like he owed this to Tony.

Loki seemed eager to have their intimiate moments though, with no trace of hesitations. He supposed he just had to hope for the best, that Loki wasn't putting on an act. To pretend to be more secure than he was, or to make Tony fall head over heels for him just to have the collar removed. Both were a very real possibility and Tony didn't particularly care for the way his heart ached when he thought about it.

 

***

 

There had been a few other moments they'd shared during the week that had momentarily distracted him from his jealousy. As much as Tony had preferred to be in his workshop, creating something of importance, Loki was determined to get Tony out on a few breaks. Tony supposed it was mostly to kill the god's boredom as there was only so much Loki could take of sitting around the house to avoid the others or watching Tony construct the Buster, but once they were out and about on their little adventures Tony's annoyance about being interrupted always faded away.

They had taken three trips to the nearest town, to buy groceries and fastfood, and to simply get out of the proximity of the Avengers for awhile. Loki always covered up his hotrod red collar with a green scarf and there was never anything off about his behaviour that would attract unwanted attention from the townsfolk.

Tony found him fascinating to watch no matter what he did. Whether it was shopping new clothes or checking to see which fruits and vegetables were the most ripe, or like now, when he was trying on different pairs of sunglasses, posing in front of a tiny mirror and looking like an ordinary human being. Loki laughed at the ridiculous pink whimsical glasses he was wearing and the young female shopkeeper encouraged him to wear a just as ridiculous feathery pink cowboy hat.

Out of all the shops in the whole town, Loki's favourite had turned out to be the gag gift shop, filled with nothing but the most pointless and ugly things that were basically only suitable for either kids' birthday bashes or alcohol-oriented parties. The shopkeeper loved his visits as he would always buy something, regardless if he would ever actually use it or not. The funny drinking straws were one thing, and Tony had no problem using them for his own drinks, but the get-up the girl had managed to get him in now? The stupid glasses, the feathery hat, the toy guns and a cape. As if Loki would ever actually use that.

An image suddenly appeared in Tony's head of Loki wearing it all during sex and he almost choked.

"Something funny, Kirk?" Loki asked him with a teasing grin and it took Tony a second to recall his alias.

"Oh nothing, Thomas, just you," Tony easily dismissed with a small cough.

"What? You don't think this is a good look for me?"

"Hottest outfit fresh from the catwalk, babe."

Loki laughed and let the giggling young shopkeeper hand him another few items to try on. Tony watched with a small smile as Loki flirted with her, making her blush bright red as she relished in all of his attentions. It made his heart soar to see how happy and joyful Loki could be, funny, charming, and gorgeous as fuck. It was such a drastic change from how he used to be. Gone were all traces of the crazed world-conquerer or the broken SHIELD-experiment and Tony hoped that somehow, this side of Loki would grow stronger.

Giving him that small access to his magic had been the greatest thing Tony could have given him, as it seemed to have been the one thing that had finally begun to heal Loki's fractured mind.

"You're not actually buying all of that, are you?" Tony asked eventually as Loki made his way to the counter with his arms full of pointless clutter.

Loki raised an eyebrow at him before he turned back to the girl.

"You know what, I'll take two of each," he told her with a mischievious glint in his eyes.

"I'll get right on that!" she responded with a huge grin as she went to get duplicates of the items.

Tony rolled his eyes and added a couple of packages of the whimzy drinking straws to the rest of the things on the counter, atleast there'd be _something_ useful. He also made sure to add a few boxes of salty liquorice sweets. He couldn't stand the stuff but he'd noticed that Loki had a real sweet tooth for it.

"Thank you, have a good day! Come again!" the girl called after them when they left.

Loki was still wearing the stupid sunglasses and cowboy hat and he grinned widely as they walked down the street. He didn't give a shit about how ridiculous he looked and Tony loved it. Not that anyone looked at them or even bothered to notice their presence, but Tony had gotten used to that by now. Loki had some sort of shield around them that, while still highly visible to their onlookers, made people not care to take a look; they were nothing more than an uninteresting blur in their peripheral vision. It was very effective despite the low dosage of magic that Loki had access to. It was almost tempting to increase the limit to see what else Loki could do.

They stopped by the Chinese restaurant to pick up their ordered food before they made their way towards the orange Lamborghini.

"It's about time that I get to drive, don't you think," Loki stated rather than asked.

"And where, pray tell, is a Lambo retail shop for when you break it?"

"I'm not going to break it," Loki huffed, almost pouted.

Tony chuckled and threw the keys at him, which he caught without looking.

"Fine. But when you do, you're the one who gets to call the guys and tell them why we can't deliver their food on time."

Loki waved him off and got into the driver's seat. He adjusted it to fit his incredibly long legs and Tony probably would have drooled a little if he had less self-restrain. Loki looked hot behind the wheels, despite the stupid things he wore. But when Loki removed the scarf to show his collar along with a flirty grin, Tony almost lost it.

Tony almost bit down on his knuckles as he had to remind himself what the collar was for, and it most certainly wasn't to claim Loki as his. He coughed into his hand instead.

"So you know how to do this?" he asked.

"I've seen you do it plenty of times, how hard can it be."

"If you say so, princess."

Loki snorted and started it. The engine came to life with a roar which promptly ended as the car stalled.

Loki looked dumbfounded and Tony laughed.

"What happened?"

"You have to be more mindful of the clutch. Depress the clutch and break pedals then shift the gear into neutral."

Loki gave him a look and tried again, listening carefully to all of Tony's instructions. He had more success the second time around and slowly pulled out to the road. Tony was pleasantly surprised as Loki handled the car with ease throughout the town with his guidance, with only one other stalling by the traffic lights.

Once they were out on the mostly empty road back to the ranch, Loki turned to him with a playful look on his face.

"Let's see how fast I can make it go," was all the warning he gave Tony before he shifted gear and pressed down hard on the gas.

The Lambo practically flew over the road and Tony reached for something to grab on to. It was one thing for him to drive, another thing entirely to let another person drive him. Especially someone who had never done it before.

Loki laughed.

"Don't worry, love. I won't let anything happen to you," he grinned as he sped up even further.

"Me or the car?"

"Whichever pleases you."

"That's comforting."

When Tony realised they weren't going to crash into the nearest tree, his heart rate went back to a normal level and he could start to enjoy the speed. Despite Tony's initial distress of being in the passenger seat – or more specifically _out of control_ – Loki's joy was contageous and it didn't take long before both of them laughed and went even faster.

As they turned onto the dirt road leading to the villa, even Loki had enough sense to go slow. They'd gotten most frustrations out of them by then and they enjoyed the afterglow of the adrenaline rush as they listened to the rock songs blasting out of the speakers.

When they pulled up by the villa they were met by Steve. Tony greeted him with a hey as he handed over a bag of groceries and Chinese food. Loki tipped his hat with a howdy in a perfect southern twang. Steve took his time to look him over. Loki seemed so light and carefree, even his usual hostility towards Steve seemed to be gone for the moment.

"You look better."

"See, Stark. I told you this outfit was worth every penny," Loki smirked at Tony who waved him off before he turned back to Steve.

"Loki, I want to take a trip out to town with you tomorrow," Steve started.

"All the boys are falling for you with that hat," Tony interjected. "We should see if its magical powers are enough to charm Clint as well."

"It might require the full ensamble", Loki added, pretending to look thoughtful.

Steve continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"It would give the two of us some needed time away from here."

"You're not going to lecture me again, are you?"

"He probably will," Tony said as he grabbed their own bags and shut the car door. ”It's kind of his thing.”

"Actually, to be quite frank, us going away would also give Bruce some time to come up here and help Tony out with the new suit."

Loki tried his hardest to not let it show just how much distress the mere mention of the man made him feel. He quickly averted his gaze despite hiding behind those large sunglasses. He knew that Bruce Banner would have to come here to help Tony out with the Hulkbuster eventually but Bruce had been so good at keeping away in his own little corner and Loki had enjoyed pretending he didn't exist.

"Of course," he said eventually, a bit stiffly. "Tomorrow then."

Steve gave them a smile as he said goodbye and went to his car to drive to the cabin he shared with Clint and Bruce. Tony put an arm around Loki's waist to remind him of here and now, feeling him relax slightly under his touch, as he guided him inside to eat.

Tony tried not to be frustrated; Loki had been in a wonderful mood and of course dumb old Steve had managed to put a damper on it. He knew perfectly well though what Steve's good intention was, Tony really needed Bruce to help him out with his expertise on the Hulk, to point out any errors and flaws, but he really needed to learn the concept of better timing.

Loki became more at ease during the dinner, and afterwards he indulged Tony with kisses and a handjob, still wearing that damn hat.

 

***

 

Steve arrived around noon the next day. He checked the house first but upon finding it empty he made his way to the workshop. Tony and Loki were sitting closely together, talking softly to each other. Neither seemed to have noticed his presence as the radio was playing too loudly and Steve took a moment to observe them, trying to see Loki's hidden agenda but failing. It really was like watching a pair of lovers sharing a private moment. It only made Steve feel more uneasy about the situation, his need to keep watch increasing as Tony might have become too blind.

He knocked on the open door to make his presence known and they looked up at him.

"Go easy on him, remember he's ninety years old," Tony murmured to Loki who looked back at him with a huffed chuckle.

He leaned in and kissed Tony as he removed the cowboy hat from his head to place it on Tony's. Tony didn't seem to notice or care, too busy staring after Loki as he made his way over to Steve.

"Let me grab the keys and we'll be on our way."

"Actually, we're taking my car." At Loki's unimpressed look, Steve shrugged. "I need to fill her up anyway."

"You car?" Tony said from where he sat. "You're making our friends _walk_ all the way up here? That's so rude."

"I dropped them off a bit down the road, about a ten minute walk. They should be here just soon after we've left."

Tony caught the slight stiffening of Loki's back and settled for a simple nod and a wave goodbye instead of a smart-ass retort; the sooner Loki got to leave, the better.

When Steve turned his back to them, Loki let out some of his magic with a small hand gesture to clear the area of every trace of his scent, as a precaution. He didn't want to take any unecessary risk when it came to the green beast.

The car radio was playing some old country songs on low volume and as they got out on the main road Loki couldn't hold back a sigh at the slow pace.

"Can't this car go any faster?"

"I am going at the speed limit, actually."

"Limit? Aren't those numbers only suggestions?"

Steve huffed out a laugh.

"If that's what Tony's been telling you, maybe you need a different driving instructor."

"Yes, because I'm such a good, law-abiding citizen."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing, you know."

"It's probably a lost cause if your intention is to convince me to become one."

"It most likely is," Steve agreed.

The most he could hope for was that Loki's attachment to Tony would make him become neutral instead of an enemy. The thought of Loki joining their side or even becoming _good_ was too farfetched and absurd, especially considering the damage done in New York. But neutrality was definitely preferable to hostile. Perhaps one day even an ally if the Earth got attacked by aliens again.

"So what were you and Tony up to yesterday to put you in such a good mood?" he asked after a few minutes silence. At Loki's wicked grin he groaned and regretted his words of choice. "I mean, where do you like to go when you're in town?"

Loki shrugged.

"Anywhere is fine. And do not worry, Captain. I'll be on my best behaviour."

And he most certainly was.

As they walked through town, Steve found himself doing double-takes at Loki as he was almost unrecognisable. Loki was mellow and polite to all the shopkeepers, and blending in _perfectly_ , to the point where people they passed on the street didn't even look up at him. No one they encountered would have ever imagined that the man who tried to conquer Earth only a few years back was walking so plainly amongst them. No one ever got any reason to get suspicious and call the authorities, which in turn would attract SHIELD.

They wasted the day away in a relatively comfortable silence, browsing through shops, eating at a diner and even watching a movie. It was set during World War II, which brought back memories for the both of them. Loki had made a remark about a tiny detail they'd gotten horribly wrong, something a person would only notice if they had been there, and Steve's eyes grew large as saucers as he found out that Loki had been on Earth during that time. On _their_ side of the war, no less. Loki didn't tell him as much as he would tell Tony, but it was enough for Steve to think that maybe, just maybe, he'd give the man an honest chance, that perhaps there was still hope for Loki's redemption yet. That maybe Tony's affection for him was because he had gotten a glimpse of the real Loki that the Aesir kept well hidden from everyone else.

They'd talked a bit about the war as they continued to walk through town, or rather, Steve talked. Loki listened, and commented only on the few things he knew from experience.

It was such an odd situation and Steve really shouldn't feel as ecstatic as he did, but really, how often was it that he could talk memories from that time with someone? And if this was the way to try and understand Tony's fondness of Loki, maybe it was worth a try. It would never excuse Loki's actions of course, or ease Steve's suspicions of his ulterior motives.

They'd been out for seven hours when they decided to go back, both much more at ease with the other than before. Steve hummed along to a song he loved as a teenager when Loki suddenly spoke up.

"Pull over here."

Steve did so with some hesitation. as he tried to figure out what Loki was up to.

"There's hardly anyone passing by here which would give us plenty of privacy." Yes, that certainly made Steve feel on the edge, until, "Would you like to spar with me?"

Steve looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Spar?"

"Yes," Loki said shortly, and Steve could practically hear how he tried to hold back a scathing remark about Steve's poor hearing in his old age. "Tony is probably still busy with Banner and you haven't had a sparring partner of your own strength in quite some time, I would imagine."

Steve looked at him in silence for a minute while he tried to figure out if there was any hidden motive.

"Fine," he agreed at last. "Just sparring, no unecessary violence or outright murder."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Loki flashed him a far too wide smile as he stepped out of the car to make his way down to a nearby field.

Steve joined him, stretching his arms and legs on the way.

Loki stood with his legs wide apart and his hands lifted only waist high in an easy demeanour.

"Give it your best shot, Captain."

Steve put his fists up by his face boxer-style as he took in Loki's stance. With a swift move forwards he jabbed at Loki's face which the other easily blocked, swiftly followed by a left jab which was blocked as well.

"Was that truly your best?" Loki questioned with raised eyebrows.

"Don't want to hurt you," Steve shrugged.

Loki barked out a laugh as if it was the funniest thing he had heard.

"Don't insult me, mortal. Now, come at me."

Steve looked him over for a short moment before granting Loki his wish. Loki blocked his first attempts but Steve managed to get in an uppercut, the force of it knocked Loki's head to the side and Steve took a step back with a held breath.

Loki blinked as he registered the painful throbbing on his jaw, then let out a laugh, his eyes twinkling with honest joy as he looked back at Steve.

"That's more like it," was all he said before he advanced and Steve had to give as good as he got.

And Steve had to admit it felt good to not have to hold back. No matter how hard he punched Loki, the other was still standing. At some level it worried him to see how much it would take to bring Loki down even in this weakened state of his, but for the moment he decided to let those feelings wait for later and just enjoy sparring with something other than a punching bag. Because just like Loki had hinted, he'd obviously have to hold himself back with a normal human partner.

They moved around each other, both striking out or stepping back to avoid hits. Loki suddenly kicked him, making him fly backwards a bit before landing hard on the ground, but except for feeling a little sore, nothing was hurt.

Loki waited for him to get up and make his move, and the next time Loki tried to kick him he was ready. He grabbed Loki's leg and twirled him around but Loki rolled with the motion and managed to kick Steve's shin with his other leg and they both went down.

Loki was the first to get up and reached out a hand which Steve accepted with some hesitation, then they were back at it. Steve had lost all track of time of how long they sparred until he had managed to throw Loki onto the ground and could take a moment to observe how dark the sky had gotten as Loki got up on his feet.

Loki was heavily out of breath, having not fully recovered from his ordeal of the past few years or the recent beating he'd taken from Abomination. His ribs flared with pain as they hadn't fully healed yet despite the aid from his magic and all his muscles ached from the strain but Loki welcomed every single bit of the discomfort; it was all due to _his own_ choices. He was alive and free from that damned room.

"Call it for now?" Steve said. "We better get back."

Loki gave a short nod before they walked back to the car.

"This doesn't mean that I like you," Steve clarified as they got inside.

"Likewise, Captain."

"But I would like to spar with you again. Tomorrow?"

Despite just having sparred for a good two hours – which, he was loath to admit, was probably as much as his body could take in this state – Loki was still brimming with pent-up excess energy after so many years of being drugged down and docile. He made sure to atleast not sound too eager as he accepted.

When they approached the villa they found Tony sitting on the porch waiting for them, twirling Loki's cowboy hat in his hands.

"There you are, I was sure you two might have tried to kill each other," he greeted them. As he got a closer look at the bruises and scuffings on both of them, he added, "You tried to, didn't you?"

"Come now, Stark. If we had, you wouldn't have expected to still see your dear Captain here."

"Well, that's true. No offense, Cap, but my money's on this guy. He'll play dirty."

Steve rolled his eyes. A part of him still wanted to berate Tony for backing up their prisoner like that, but he let it slide.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Loki," was all he said as he started to drive away.

"Tomorrow?" Tony frowned. "You're giving him a second date?"

Loki shrugged and gave him a coy smile before walking inside.

"It was more pleasurable than I expected."

" _'Pleasurable'_ ", Tony parroted as he followed him inside, and that was most certainly not a hint of jealousy in his tone.

"Pleasurable," Loki affirmed before nodding towards the hat. "Did it work?"

"Yeah, I got a tingling sensation all over me when you were getting closer and sent Bruce and Clint away about five minutes ago. Although I still don't get why you couldn't have charmed a less conspicuous item."

Loki shrugged.

"You thought them useless, so I made them useful. Don't be picky about their appearance."

"Sure, babe." Tony stepped closer and leaned up to kiss him. "Now as for _pleasurable_ , I'd like a chance to top his performance."

"Would you?" Loki smiled and kissed him back.

Tony pressed him against the wall and Loki let him do so with nothing but humour and trust in his eyes at Tony's sudden change of pace. A knee went inbetween Loki's legs and he started grinding unabashedly against it.

"You're certainly off to a good start," he murmured as Tony kissed and sucked on his neck above the collar, leaving his mark on top of a fresh bruise.

"And I'm going to do it so much better," Tony promised as his hands went to the hem of Loki's shirt to pull it over his head.

Loki repeated the movement with Tony's shirt and they stumbled into the living room. Tony shoved him down onto the couch and sat on his lap, covering him with kisses and caresses as they moved together.

"Is this more pleasurable?" Tony asked inbetween kisses.

"Try a bit harder," Loki grinned.

Tony chuckled and leaned down to attack Loki's left nipple with an onslaught of bites and kisses. Loki gasped and reached inbetween them to unbutton his trousers and Tony's jeans and rubbed their cocks together.

Tony groaned as he thrust into Loki's hand for a moment before slipping off his lap and down to the floor. He settled inbetween Loki's spread legs and tenderly kissed whichever piece of skin within his reach as he helped Loki get rid of his trousers and boots.

He licked his lips at the sight before him and then leaned forwards to press the flat of his tongue against the hard cock. He gave it a couple of sturdy licks while one of his hands held the base and the other hand caressed Loki's inner thigh.

"How about this?" he asked with a cocky grin and Loki gritted his teeth.

"When you finally put it inside your mouth, Stark, it might just be."

"So pushy."

He continued to lick the cock for another minute before he gave in and opened his mouth to suck on the head. Loki let out a delicious moan as he leaned his head back and his hands grabbed a hold of Tony's hair, but never pushed him down to take more.

Tony twirled his tongue around the cock as he slowly took it deeper into his mouth, his hand stroking the remaining length. He glanced up at Loki who looked back at him with dark lust-filled eyes, and a red flush covering his cheeks. When it poked against the back of his throat, Tony let out a hum and Loki shivered and gasped and his grip on Tony's hair tightened, but his hips remained still.

Tony showed his appreciation of Loki's self-control by taking him in deeper inch by inch until his nose was pressed against Loki's skin. He swallowed around the length and held on for as long as he could before he needed to get air. He didn't let go of it completely though and Loki gently rocked into his mouth for a moment before pulling on Tony's hair.

"Up, up," he murmured and eagerly kissed Tony once he was within reach.

Loki's hands went down to his jeans to try and shove them off and he growled in annoyance when he couldn't do so without breaking the kiss.

"Get them off," he demanded against Tony's lips before capturing them again, his tongue luring Tony's into Loki's mouth.

Tony grabbed hold of Loki's shoulder with one hand to steady himself as he almost toppled over in his hurry to get naked while still engaged in Loki's passionate kiss. He stumbled back onto Loki's lap in a graceless heap, far too concerned with feeling Loki's cock against his to bother with any finesse. He wrapped his hand over Loki's and thrust his hips eagerly into their hold.

Loki removed his hand after a few minutes to grab a hold of Tony's hips, and without any warning he shifted them so Tony was lying on his back on the couch. Tony just might have let out a surprised squeak at the sudden change in position, not that he'd ever admit it.

Tony watched the dark god above him with wide eyes as Loki thrust against him, their cocks sliding against each other, trapped between their bellies. Loki held Tony's arms above his head with a strong grip on his wrists. Tony wrapped his legs around Loki's hips to bring him even closer and Loki responded with a growl and putting more weight on him, securely pinning him down underneath him. Tony couldn't move, only lie there and take it. He didn't feel trapped or overpowered in Loki's possessive hold though, far from it. This was the first time Loki had shown this side of him and Tony was going to enjoy every second of it.

_'If I were a girl I'd be so wet right now'_ , he thought to himself but was unable to let out anything but a delirious moan as Loki kept kissing him as if he'd die if he let go.

Tony eventually and regrettably had to break the kiss and move his head to the side in order to catch his breath. Loki licked and kissed his way to his neck and Tony groaned. He was becoming so lost in the almost overwhelming sensations that it took him a moment to realise that Loki had let go of his wrists and was moving down his body, kissing and softly biting at the skin within his reach.

Tony looked down at him and momentarily held his breath at the sight of his thighs on Loki's shoulders, and Loki's face right by Tony's groin. Except for the occasional frotting, Loki had only given him handjobs – but oh how fantastic they were but he'd never shown any interest in doing anything beyond that. As much as Tony's dick longed to get inside the mouth that was _so close_ , he sobered up a bit by the always present thoughts; that Loki was only doing this to keep on Tony's good side.

Loki was watching Tony's dick as he gently stroked it. He licked his lips and placed a chaste kiss on the side of the shaft.

"Loki..." Loki's eyes locked on his and Tony drank in the astonishing sight for a moment in case he'd never see it again, before he continued. "You know you don't have to do thi-- hnnggggghh!"

Any rational thoughts flew out of Tony's brain as that hot wet mouth suddenly enveloped his dick and sucked hard, and the long tongue slithered around it. Tony shut his eyes tight and threw his head back with a shout as he let himself get lost in the pleasure Loki gave him. His hands eventually found their way to Loki's head, to grab a hold on the dark locks as some sort of means to steady himself.

When Loki eased up on the suction and played around with his tongue instead, the air returned to Tony's lungs and he panted hard as he lifted his head to glance down at Loki. Loki returned his gaze with a mischievous look in his eyes while _sucking his cock_ and Tony thought it was a miracle he didn't come right then and there.

Loki took him in deeper, his talented tongue hard at work and occassionally he let out a spark of magic that made Tony keen.

"Oh god, yes, yes," Tony was resigned to how he'd been reduced to a stumbling few words and moaning noises. "Fuck me."

Loki glanced up at him at those words but Tony had thrown his head back again. He let his left hand slowly, experimentally, make its way from its hold on Tony's thigh down to his well-shaped buttocks. The slight touch of a fingertip against Tony's hole made the man let out a high-pitched moan as he tried to press back onto it.

Loki hummed and teased him with a barely-there touch and it was enough to drive Tony over the edge. He started pulling on Loki's hair in warning. Loki's right hand grabbed a hold of one of Tony's to intertwine their fingers and make him stop; he wasn't going anywhere.

"Loki, I'm gonna--"

Loki took him all the way in and Tony couldn't hold back. He came with a loud shout and Loki swallowed every drop.

Tony felt like he must've blacked out for a minute. When he regained his ability to think somewhat clearly again, he felt Loki kiss and lick his shaft before making his way up again.

"That was, wow, if that wasn't the definition of mind-blowing I just don't know what is."

He sought out Loki's lips and kissed him and _tasted himself on Loki's tongue_. He felt Loki's dick rub against his abdomen, hard and heavy and leaking, and sought out to stroke it. Loki's pre-come made the glide easier and Tony again marveled at the significant difference in the substance from his.

"You know, the offer still stands." At Loki's questioning hum against his neck as he placed a few soft kisses there, he tried to elaborate even though his train of thoughts was a complete mess. "If you wanna fuck me. I think your pre-come should be good enough to use as make-do lube so you don't go in all dry and I'm just saying if you want to I'm completely fine with it. More than fine."

Loki was quiet for a while as if he was thinking it over.

"Perhaps another time, Tony. As of now, your hand is all I want."

Loki kissed him and Tony indulged himself as he stroked Loki to completion, making him come all over Tony's stomach. Making him feel like his. And he was certain his company was more pleasurable than Steve's.

 

***

 

The following few days repeated themselves in pretty much the same manner. Loki and Steve would head out to spar until they wore themselves out while Tony and Bruce would work on the Hulkbuster with Clint.

The evenings were spent in Tony's company, though mostly sitting in the workshop watching him build the new gigantic suit of armour or repairing the Iron Man suit while Loki himself weaved magic spells into the things he had bought.

Things were going so easy and he feared that SHIELD or Asgård would attack them any moment now. Having some means of extra ammunition made him feel like he atleast wasn't just sitting around waiting for the inevitable to happen.

It went incredibly slow to infuse them with spells as he only had a small limit to work with each time, which was infuriating. He hadn't made any progress to make Tony remove his collar or increase its limit and a part of him was growing far too restless for his plan to work out. What he hated the most however was the other part of him who liked Tony far too much to do anything to force him to release him.

_'Liked.'_ The big problem was that he more than liked the mortal. If the circumstances were different, if Tony was anything else but a short-lived human, he would have gladly admitted to himself how he really felt. As for now, he just felt torn.

He watched Tony thoughfully as his hand slid over the material of the dark red cape, infusing it bit by bit with a spell that would cause it to explode when he needed it to.

Tony was humming along with the music blasting from the speakers as he connected wires and put pieces together. He felt so at ease, doing what he loved, being near Loki, it almost unnerved Loki with how easily the mood could have rubbed off on him if not for the growing anxiety he felt.

It had gone too many days since Abomination's attack, and something was bound to happen. They'd stayed in the same place for far too long for it to not to.

He knew Tony was aware of it as well but the human showed no tendency to worry about it and it frustrated Loki even further. When the moment came it would do so regardless, he had said, and Loki could agree but being on the move could make it less likely to occur. Tony needed his workshop though and Loki could only hope that Tony's new creation would live up to the expectations.

He looked back down at the cape as he continued his work. He'd done the same to other items that were placed around the workshop and villa, in easy reach if they were caught offguard. Most items would explode, but a few others were harnessing a supplement of excess magic in case he'd need a small boost.

A glance out the window to the dark star-filled sky made him feel like it was time to finish for today. His human needed to eat and rest. After all, what point was there in having the Hulkbuster if Tony was too exhausted to operate it?

"Stark, wrap it up."

"But--"

"No buts."

Tony pouted but didn't argue. As much as he needed to finish building the machine, he also loved spending time with Loki, with conversations and sharing knowledge or bringing each other pleasure. He put a few finishing touches to the Buster before leaving the workshop with Loki's arm around his waist.

Loki heated up the dinner Barton had cooked earlier as Tony showered. This was also part of the routine they'd fallen into so easily. Late night dinner followed by cuddling in the bedroom until they fell asleep.

And never once did Tony expect or demand anything from him even with Loki's permission to do so. The very thought of Tony's respect for him made a small, adoring smile tug at Loki's lips.

 

***

 

Two more days was all it took before hell came crashing down.

And of course when a change in the routine had happened, almost as if they'd been watching, waiting for it.

Bruce had needed a break to get some time for himself and had taken the SUV to town. Steve and Clint were down at their cabin, Tony was in the workshop and Loki in the bedroom, changing the sheets.

The Bifrost came bearing down in the field not too far from the house. The sight and sound of it made Loki freeze with dread and horror.

A group of warriors led by Thor himself were approaching the villa, coming for him. It was the first time Loki had seen Thor since he'd left him raped and traumatized in the cell and Loki started hyperventilating, his body shaking but still he could not move.

Their progress was halted by Iron Man who stood in their way, hands up and ready to blast.

"Friend Stark," Thor greeted with a strained smile.

"Not one step closer," Tony warned. "I suggest you and your fellas turn around and head back to that rainbow land of yours."

"I've come here to take back something that does not belong to you."

"Some _thing_?" Tony questioned. "Is that all he is to you now?"

"I do not wish to fight you, Tony. He's been sentenced by my father and the leaders of your world. You and I have no right to interfere with that."

"I have every right to interfere when prisoners are being tortured," Tony spat. "And _you_...!" His voice broke and he took a deep breath to steady himself. "I should blast your head off of your shoulders for what _you_ did."

Thor was quiet for some time, wishing to observe Tony's face but unable to with the face-plate in place.

"Loki is very persuasive but I had thought you too clever to fall for his schemes. Step back, Tony. There is a bigger picture that you do not understand."

"Bigger picture? Oh, you mean breeding an army?!" Tony panted hard. It took all of his self control to not fire off his blasters. "I've seen Loki break down, I've comforted him. That is something his brother should have done instead of being a cause of it!"

Thor took a step forward and Tony shot him in the shoulder. A warning blast that didn't make any damage but still hurt, if Thor's hiss was anything to go by. His men moved to attack Tony but Thor held up a hand, stopping them.

"Not to mention what happened to Bruce," Tony added bitterly.

"What about Bruce?" Thor asked as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Oh I don't know, maybe the whole thing with SHIELD using him to get with Loki, without him even knowing it, hurting both of them."

Thor frowned.

"I was told Bruce offered it willingly."

"Well that was just a big old lie. He had no idea. He's fucking tormented about it."

"I honestly had no idea. I was told... I shall have words with SHIELD about their methods and I will monitor things to make it right."

"But you will still let Loki be used? How is that for hypocrisy?"

"Do you not remember what he did to your world? All the innocent lives that were lost?"

"I can never forget."

"And yet you stand here, protecting him?"

Tony was silent for a moment. Scenes of the battle with the Chitauri flashed before his eyes. Loki throwing him out the window, him grabbing the nuclear missile and going on a suicide mission with it into the portal. Seeing the gigantic space ship and yet only getting a small glimpse of what was to come.

"The Avengers might not still be alive when Midgård suffers the next attack," Thor said softly, almost pleading. "Your realm needs all the protection it can get when that happens. Loki will suffer for it to be so, yes, but it is only temporary. A few years of this for someone with our long lives is not a big sacrifice to make, when your whole world could perish if not. When he's done, he will be taken back to Asgård and no more shall happen to him. He'll be like any other prisoner but this is the price that has been decided he must pay. You are an intelligent man, Tony. Surely you must see?"

"Well then, if that really is the only way, I suppose we are fucked."

Thor sighed.

"If you do not move aside willingly, Tony Stark, we will make you. I do not wish to fight you."

"Bring it on."

Thor looked at him for a long time, then motioned for his men to move forward. A large battle cry was heard from them and Tony flew into the air, blasting them as hard as he could but the Aesir were stronger and more durable than humans and while they went down, they didn't stay down.

"Come on, come on," he muttered to himself as he called for his new armour. He hadn't taken it out yet for a test drive but just like his current suit, it should come to him when he called for it.

A large crash was heard from the workshop as it collapsed and Tony let out a sigh of relief. He got into the Hulkbuster and lifted its arm to strike down a group of Aesir warriors that charged him. They were knocked aside easily and Tony advanced on Thor.

Thor watched the new suit with wide eyes, baffled at the lengths Tony was willing to go to protect Loki. He had hoped Tony would understand but the man was too stubborn. With a sigh, he spun Mjölnir and joined the battle.

 

Loki had watched everything through the window, hoping against all reason that Tony would have made his point clear and for Thor to return to Asgård, but the battle broke out and Loki could only hope that the Hulkbuster, originally designed to take down the beast, would be enough to take down Thor as well.

He heard the front door crash open and was finally taken out of his trance. They were inside the house, they were coming for him, and he needed to fight. He grabbed the first enchanted item within his reach just as two large warriors got into the bedroom, cornering him.

They approached him with quick steps and he let them get closer. When the first one was just within reach, he wrapped the cloak tightly around him and shoved him into the other as he quickly darted out of the room before the cloak exploded. It was powerful enough to have killed him instantly, however the second warrior was mostly unharmed and quick to give chase.

Loki picked up a cooking knife hidden in the hallway and turned just as the warrior was upon him, and he stabbed the knife deep into the man's neck. He heard two more run up the stairs and he quickly reached out to grab the funny-looking glasses placed on the side table.

While it didn't hold much power, it was enough to give him the boost needed to create a couple of clones. They were weak and flickered badly at times but it was enough distraction for him to get behind the warriors and getting the chance to cut their jugulars before running down the stairs.

He couldn't stay and fight in such close quarters, the house would be swamped with warriors and he would have no chance against them all. He needed to get away. He grabbed another cloak and wrapped it around the neck of the warrior he met at the front door, making it explode as he darted towards the Lamborghini.

Loki slammed down on the gas pedal and the car took off with a loud rumble and a wild screech. Two warriors attempted to give chase but had to give up as the car was too fast for them. He glanced up in the rearview mirror, watching Thor battle the Hulkbuster and felt like a coward for leaving Tony like that, but his human needed help and Loki couldn't give much of that while still collared. He had regained enough strength to fight against a horde of SHIELD agents, but not against warriors of Asgård. And most definitely not Thor.

Steve and Barton would have undoubtedly noticed the Bifrost and were on their way. It would take them some time to get there on foot but Steve was a fast runner and a strong fighter, and he could stand his own against the warriors.

Loki however was headed out towards the main road. He needed someone much stronger than Steve, and his heart raced in panic at the mere thought of seeking out and confronting one of his worst fears.

It felt like an eternity before he got onto the main road but once there he could finally let the Lambo loose. The car roared as it soared over the road, as if eager to finally use all that power.

Bruce had left not too long ago, if Loki was lucky he could catch up with him before he had reached town, and save him the time of having to search for him. AC/DC blasted loudly and his heart felt as if it was going to jump out of his chest with its wild beatings and _why_ did it take so long to get where he was going?!

He let out a sob of relief as he finally spotted the SUV up ahead. Bruce was going at a slow pace, in no hurry to get anywhere as long as he got some alone time away from everything. Well Loki would just have to completely mess up Bruce's plans.

Loki overtook Bruce's car and hit the brakes so hard the Lambo almost tipped over. As soon as it had stopped he got out and ran over to Bruce, whom had stopped his car and watched Loki with wide scared eyes.

"Out! Get out now!" Loki yelled at him as he threw open the door and ripped away the seatbelt.

"L-Loki? What the hell... What are you doing?"

"Shut up," Loki growled at him and punched his face.

He dragged Bruce out of the car and punched him again before throwing him against a tree by the roadside. The man screamed in agony but held depserately onto himself.

"Damn it..." Loki muttered as he strode over, more than ready to beat the man senseless if that got him what he wanted.

He kicked Bruce before lifting him up by his collar and slammed a fist into his face. That seemed to do the trick.

The Hulk roared as he took over, and Loki took a step back as he watched him with terror. He had to hope his plan would work, that it wouldn't backfire on him in the worst way possible.

The beast was pissed off, feeling all the pain that Bruce had been put through and was not happy about it. He grabbed Loki and pushed him down onto the ground as he roared at him, before slowly recognising him. His mate.

"Mine," Hulk stated and pressed his nose into Loki's neck.

He growled at the blood splattered onto his mate and licked it off of Loki in two big swipes, making Loki shake and almost cry with fear and repulsion.

"Yes, yours. I'm all yours..." he whispered.

He was so angry at himself for being so frightened. He had brought forth Hulk for a reason, he had no time to waste on slipping into a panicked state.

"Hulk, listen to me," he spoke with a clear voice as Hulk tried to rip away his clothes. "Please listen. I'm your mate, am I not? Listen to your mate."

"Mmm?" Hulk grew restless, wanting nothing more than to get inside Loki where he belonged and reconnect them as mates again but was willing to listen to Loki when he stated it like that. His mate wanted to tell him of his needs and he should listen to what it could be.

"Tony needs your help," Loki said, watching Hulk intently with wide eyes, hoping that the words would go through to him. "Please do it, for me. Go to Tony. Help him."

"No! Hulk wants you."

"Yes, I know. After, okay? After you help Tony. We can mate after. As much as you want to. Anything you want. Just please... You have to go now! You don't want Tony to die, do you? I know you don't want that. Please, help him."

Hulk watched him for a moment before he nodded with a grunt. He stood back up and then took off with huge leaps, making his way to Tony in the quickest way possible.

Loki let out a breath of relief and closed his eyes, making the tears he'd barely held back run down his cheeks. His body was shaking so hard and he could only lie there and try to breathe for the longest time.

He had to get up, he was too vulnurable like this. If Heimdall sent down more warriors to get him now he'd have no chance at all.

His body didn't react to his commands at the first couple of tries, and the shaking increased as he got flashbacks of being paralyzed in a room with Hulk raping him, over and over again.

He had just told the beast that he would willingly let himself go through that again and he could only hope that Hulk wouldn't demand him to make good on that promise.

That seemed to be the thing needed to make Loki's body break free from its paralyzing hold and he quickly rolled to the side so he could vomit.

He gasped for breath and forced himself to stand up on shaky legs.

He looked back at the road from which he'd came, his heart aching for Tony. He turned his head and looked at the other direction, the urge rising with the need to get away, to run and hide and eventually find a way to break free from the collar, to be on his own again.

Loki took a few staggering steps over to the Lamborghini and sunk down into the seat. He took a deep breath to calm himself before he started it, listening to the engine for a moment, and then started to drive away.

 

***

 

The Hulkbuster was powerful and resilient, and most definitely exceeding all of Tony's expectations considering the limitations he had when building it here in the middle of nowhere instead of at home. The Asgardians were incredibly strong but he knocked them all aside as if they were nothing but toy soldiers. Thor, however, was more of a challenge.

The God of Thunder had flown into the air, making him harder to catch, and had directed a lightening bolt against him. Tony couldn't help but to smirk. Hadn't Blondie learned anything from the last time they'd fought over Loki?

Just like then, his power levels increased from the added energy. He leapt towards Thor and slammed him into the ground, creating a Thor-shaped crater beneath the Buster's heavy fist.

"Wonder if I finally knocked some sense into you?" he quipped.

He heard Thor's muffled roar and felt how he lifted Hulkbuster's fist away from him, showing just how strong he was. Thor got himself into a kneeling position, holding the Buster's fist up with his left arm while swinging Mjölnir in his right hand, then threw her forward. She crashed into the Hulkbuster, knocking it over and leaving a huge dent in the armour.

The Asgardians attacked him as he tried to get the suit up and running again to continue his fight with Thor.

Suddenly a flying object knocked over a couple of warriors and Tony spotted Steve fighting his way towards him.

"About time you showed up."

"As soon as I could. Where is Loki?"

"Oh, he took off."

"What?!"

"Yeah, he took my car and drove off. It's good though, he's on the move and hard to get and I don't have to worry about them taking him from behind my back while I'm fighting off Blondie. Speaking of, here he comes."

"Friend Steve," Thor greeted tiredly as Tony struggled to slowly get the huge armour into a standing position. He really should've taken the time to have let it out on a test run.

"Thor," Steve responded with a short nod. "You do understand we can't hand Loki over to you."

"So Tony keeps saying. I've informed him it's not up to us to decide such matters."

"As long as we're standing, we'll decide on our position in this entire thing."

"Then so be it."

Thor raised his hammer, calling forth a large lightening blast that Tony was quick to shield Steve from. Tony charged at Thor, fighting him with all he had, while Steve aided him as best as he could while also fighting off the Asgardian warriors.

One Asgardian snuck up behind Steve, and despite his orders to not critically injure Thor's Midgardian shield brothers he raised his sword, ready to strike it into the mortal. Steve noticed him too late. There was no time for him to counter attack, he could only hope to shield himself the best he could.

An arrow suddenly lodged itself into the warrior's eyeball, exploding shortly after impact, and the Asgardian fell.

Steve looked over to where Clint was sitting, on the roof of the villa where he had the best cover from attacks, and nodded his head in thanks.

The battle seemed endless. Thor proved just how strong he was as he flung the Hulkbuster aside as if it was nothing, yet despite everything he held back in fear of seriously injuring his once team mates.

The Avengers couldn't afford such luxury. They were swarmed with warriors and had to kill a few of them in order to stand their ground, but it seemed the Asgardians would soon win the battle. They were simply too strong, too durable compared to humans.

A large roar was heard and Hulk crashed into Thor.

"Never thought you would be the one who almost missed out on a good fight, big fella," Tony greeted him.

"Hulk smash!!!!"

"Yeah, you do that. I'll just stand here and catch my breath for a second, alright?"

Hulk and Thor fought each other relentlessly. Tony helped Steve and Clint to keep the warriors at bay but as soon as he saw an opening, he went for it. He caught Thor off guard and punched him into Hulk who smashed him to the ground.

The two were an astonishing team and eventually even the mighty Thor found himself overpowered. With a final punch from Hulk, the Asgardian blacked out.

His warriors backed off. They looked up into the sky as if awaiting backup but when none came, they surrendered.

Hulk was eager to get to them and Tony had to snap him out of it.

"Easy, easy," he said in a soothing voice as he opened the Hulkbuster and his face-plate to let Hulk see him. "They won't fight anymore. We've won. Good job, Hulk!"

He continued talking to Hulk to calm him down and have him change.

"Listen hey, think you could give me Bruce back? We really need his help with fixing things here."

"No, no Banner! Hulk mate!"

"Wha?"

"Hulk protected Tony! Hulk go mate now."

Tony frowned. Why was he talking about that now? He hadn't been exposed to Loki since-- Tony felt his heart go cold. Loki must have sought Bruce out and caused Hulk to get back here.

"Mate promised to breed after I protect you. I protected you. I go now."

Tony shot a worried glance towards Steve before turning back to Hulk, hoping his voice was light and carefree while he spoke because he certainly didn't feel as such. He was too worried about Loki.

"Yeahhh about that, maybe you can wait until after we're done? I'm not safe until Thor and the rest of them goes back to Asgård, what if I need you here to protect me when Thor wakes up and you and Loki are away m-mating."

Okay so he stumbled over the word but atleast he said the sentence with a straight face while the very thought made him sick.

Hulk didn't look too convinced and Tony pressed on.

"You did promise him you would protect me, right? He'd be very sad if you two came back and found me hurt because you were away. You don't want him to be sad, do you? You have to keep your... You have to keep him happy."

"And we need Bruce to help us talk to Thor," Steve added, knowing how discomforted Tony was. "Your promise to your mate isn't valid until it's all over. He counts on you to know that."

Hulk gritted his teeth, annoyed at having to wait even longer to reclaim his mate.

"Fine!" he burst out.

When he started to transform back into Bruce, Tony let out a deep breath he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding. He was shaking slightly as he made his way out of the Buster but remained in his Iron Man suit in case the warriors tried anything.

He had to make plans on how to keep Bruce safe from everyone including his own green monster. Any hopes and dreams he had of one of his best friends one day getting along with his lover were completely shattered.

Clint made his way to Bruce with clothes he'd found in the remains of Tony's wardrobe. It was badly stinged because of the explosion but Bruce would be happy for covering regardless of their condition.

Steve let a few warriors collect their fallen comrades then ordered them to stand at the Bifrost site, at a distance away from them to not overhear any conversations but still close enough for them to observe their leader and put them at ease.

It didn't take long for Thor to wake up. He groaned at the ringing in his ears and grunted as he moved into a sitting position, holding his head in his hands.

"Two against one isn't a fair game," he attempted to joke.

"None of this is a fair game," Tony bit back. "Nothing of what you did to Loki is fair. He was your brother! And you..."

Tony turned away from him and paced to cool down.

"It was not my proudest moment," Thor agreed. "It had to be done. I would not expect you to understand."

"Then tell me."

They all turned around at the sound of the dark, sad voice. Loki was standing a short distance away from them. Tony could see the uncertainty in him, the anxiety and fear in his green eyes and how he was shaking despite his best efforts to put up a brave front. He had his arms wrapped over his chest in a protective manner and to keep his shaking hands from fidgeting.

Tony knew Loki must have used some sort of magic to shield himself from Bruce because while the man reacted to his presence he didn't Hulk out. Clint spoke calmly to Bruce and rubbed his back gently as he lead him into the house to not risk him losing control of himself.

"Loki..." Thor sighed sadly and stood to his feet. "You know why."

Loki narrowed his eyes in anger and stepped forward with slow uncertain steps.

"I only know why they were made," he hissed, his voice dripping with venom. "I need to know why it was _you_."

"I told you. Father wanted the army you'd provide to be lead by someone with Royal blood, to stay faithful to Asgård."

"And what would you gain from it?"

"Nothing! I--"

"Not even a Midgardian _wife_?" Loki spat and Thor looked at him sadly.

"You have heard."

Loki was staring at Thor with so much disgust and hate and anger that Tony thought it was a miracle he didn't self-combust. His eyes were brimming with tears ready to fall any moment.

"You fucked me only so you could marry _her_!"

Thor looked away.

Steve's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He quickly turned his head to look questioningly at Tony whom refused to meet his gaze, too intent on watching Loki. What the hell was going on? Thor and Loki? Did Tony already know?

"She was my reward for obeying Father, yes."

Loki laughed. Low and bitterly at first, then loud and almost hysterical, with tears running down his face in endless streams.

"I do hope she was worth it, _brother_. Because if she was all it took for you to fuck me against my will, then--"

"I did it for you!" Thor interrupted with a shout as he looked up at him with sad eyes.

Loki was quiet for a moment, stunned by the absurdity of the confession.

"Why yes, of course you did it for me," he drawled. "Because I was gagging for it, weren't I?"

"Father wanted someone of Royal blood to get you with child," Thor tried again. "I refused. He threatened to send Tyr."

Tyr, their cousin? Loki shuddered but remained silent as he waited for Thor to continue.

"I remember how Tyr used to look at you when we were growing up, I remember seeing his advances on you when he thought you were alone. His rude comments about you after you brought home Sleipnir. He would have loved to have you, to make you his ergi. I accepted to protect you from him. Father allowed me to marry Jane as a reward for my obediance."

Loki could only stare at him dumbfounded for some time.

"So you raped me in order to protect me," he mocked when he found his voice again. "Mighty noble Thor, saving me from being Tyr's ergi only to make me yours. Let me tell you what I think of your noble deed, dearest brother." He stepped up to Thor and leaned into his face, as close as he could get without actually touching him. "I'd rather Odin did the deed himself."

Loki stepped back and turned around to catch his breath, his head reeling with anger from Thor's idiotic confessions, replacing the terror with pure hatred.

"You are aware he played you, are you not? And like the fool you are, you did exactly as he wanted. You didn't even try to put up a fight about it, did you? Insist that the army wouldn't need anyone of your bloodline to be faithful to their masters. No, you didn't do any of that. You'd have your mortal woman."

"I regret my choice in hurting you, Loki."

Loki laughed. Thor wouldn't even show him the respect of a proper apology.

"Tell me, Thor. Has your lovely little wife given you any children yet?"

At Thor's confused silence, he turned around with a wicked look in his eyes.

"Oh, you didn't know? I thought everyone knew, it is after all one of the things we read about when we were young. Midgardian women can't give birth to gods. Their short life spans blended with our long ones? Their wombs can't handle such a drastic difference! That is why Asgård used to take mortals as slaves before Bor put an end to such things."

Thor was silent, he looked as if this was just another one of Loki's countless lies but then a memory seemed to show up. Of the two of them in the studying hall, being educated by the finest tutors about the realms and their history and a very brief look into Asgård's history of keeping slaves.

Loki laughed.

"I don't blame you for forgetting such minor details in our education, Thor, I must admit it took me long to recall it too! He awarded you with a wife no better than a pleasure slave, one who would never give you any weak half-mortal heirs to his throne!"

Thor gritted his teeth and fisted his hands but said nothing, knowing Loki had seen through Odin's manipulations with ease whereas Thor had not. Loki always was the more clever one.

"And look at us now, Thor. With one simple move he successfully gave you what you wanted while he made sure to destroy our _brotherly_ bonds for good. All that's left from our association are your two half-Jötun bastards doomed to a life on Midgård, far away from the throne, so that in time you can marry another and have pure-blooded Asgardian children. And as for me, he means for me to be here and provide soldiers for that damned army until I die. You didn't expect a different outcome of this, did you?"

His hands were shaking so bad and he almost couldn't control the urge to strike Thor with a magic blast, but he refused to spoil the secret he and Tony shared. He'd have to use his words to causer further harm to Thor instead.

"Tell me, Thor. Did you honestly expect to get more out of this than you already got? A family with Jane? She's a _mortal_. No matter how many of Idunn's apples you give her or how many sorcerers you get to enchant her, her life is forfeit. She will be gone within a hundred years at most and you will live on for thousands of years still. She'll be nothing but a distant memory, gone in the blink of an eye."

"You are correct, Loki," Thor spoke softly as he looked up into his once-brother's tearful eyes with tears threatening to run from his own. "She'll be gone in the blink of an eye. As will _your_ mortal."

Loki was struck silent and could only stare at Thor with a slack-jawed, wide-eyed expression. His heart ached and it was wrong, _he_ was supposed to hurt Thor like this, not the other way around!

Thor looked at him with an apologetic expression but then turned his gaze to the Avengers.

"Tony." Thor gave him a stern look, letting him know he was fully aware of what had transpired between him and Loki thanks to Heimdall, then shifted his gaze to Steve. "Steve. Give my best of wishes to your team mates as I'm afraid that our companionship has come to an end. When Midgård gets attacked, you can count on the aid of Asgård to protect it. As of Loki..."

Thor looked at Loki who refused to meet his gaze, too hurt by having his words thrown back at him when it made him realise how fleeting his companionship with Tony would be. Thor longed to touch him, hold him by the nape of his neck and give comfort like he used to do for a thousand years. It was hard to break such old habits. Loki was not his to touch anymore though, he himself had been stupid enough to see to that when he tainted him.

"The All-Father is in his Odinsleep, which means that I currently am the ruler of Asgård. And until my Father awakens, the Avengers will have the custody of Loki Laufeyson."

Loki flinched at the sound of his changed name. He knew he must've gotten disowned by Odin along with his sentence to become a broodmare, but to actually _hear_ it stated like that, with the name of the Jötun king Loki had slayed in the name of an Odinson, hurt him more than he would ever admit to himself.

"I shall have words with Father once he awakens but I cannot make any promises about your fate, Loki. I will inform the World Security Council about my decision. You will not be hunted down during this time as long as you remain with your new keepers. Break free from them or your collar and I will show no more mercy for you."

Thor gave him a final look but he refused to look back, he kept his unseeing eyes down to the ground as tears continued to fall without him even being aware.

Thor nodded to Steve and Tony before turning and walking over to his men. With a cry to Heimdall, the Bifrost opened and they were swept up.

Loki remained where he was for the longest time. Steve gave Tony a worried glance and Tony stepped forward.

"Lokes? Hey, Snowflake." He reached out and gently stroked Loki's shoulder with a finger of his gauntlet. "How are you holding up?" He moved to stand in front of Loki and the sight of him crushed Tony's heart. "Grab a hold of me, babe."

He guided Loki to wrap his arms around Tony's neck. He took a hold around Loki's waist with one arm then shot off into the air.

They landed a few miles away, on a secluded clearing in a small forest without any settlement nearby. As soon as they touched ground, Loki let go of him and walked over to the nearest tree to punch the shit out of the poor thing. He yelled and screamed and when nothing remained of the tree, he went over to the next to give it the same treatment.

Tony disassembled his Iron Man suit and watched him in silence as he demolished tree after tree, and when Loki seemed to finally run out of fumes he went over to take him in his arms again, to hold on to him tightly.

Loki grabbed on to him just as tight and Tony put them into a sitting position. He heard Loki crying on his shoulder and for the life of him he couldn't even begin to imagine the pain and anguish Loki was going through. All he could do was take him away from the others' eyes and be there for him and hope it was enough.

"Can you believe that fucking idiot?" Loki murmured after awhile, when the worst of his crying had ebbed out and he only let out the occasional sob. "How can one man be so incredibly stupid?"

"Not everyone can be gifted with both looks and brains alike, like us," Tony shrugged and Loki huffed out a short laugh.

They sat in silence as Loki replayed the conversation with Thor in his head over and over until he didn't know what to do with himself. His cousin Tyr had always been a creep ever since Loki could remember, but Thor was his brother and the one he had loved the most aside from his mother, once upon a time. To hear of Thor's sacrifice for his sake, as he made it sound like, was almost worse than the traumatisation of it actually having happen. Tyr breeding him wouldn't have hurt him quite as much as it being done by someone close to his heart.

But the worst thing, the very worst thing, was having Loki's own words thrown back into his face.

His hold on Tony tightened even further and he breathed in the man's scent.

"Make love to me, Tony."

He felt Tony stiffen but when the human remained silent for so long Loki almost started to fear the rejection.

"I don't think you're ready for that right now, sweetheart," Tony said at last.

Loki grunted displeased.

"You heard us. You'll be gone far too soon and I will have nothing but distant memories of you for thousands of years. I think it's about time we created some of those memories."

"Well, if that's what you want I'll do you one better. I want you to remember me and our times together just like this. With me holding you."

Loki didn't say anything, but he burrowed his face into Tony's shirt and didn't let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Aaaaaand that's finally an update!!!!! Thank you to everyone who's been patient with this story from the beginning, I know the updates are incredibly slow and many have lost their patience; I probably would have as well!  
> The first part of this chapter took the longest to write, the second part was much easier since I've been waiting to write this angst-fest with Loki and Thor since chapter 2! (and had to end with some sweet sap after all of that!)  
> Not even the glorious Ragnarok made this chapter come out any sooner and that's saying something considering how much I thought about working on this fic every time I watched it! :D Like Loki's face when seeing Hulk again was SPOT ON for what I had imagined in the scene a few chapters ago!  
> And considering that I started to write Bright Lights before the first trailers to the Dark World came out, I think it's time that I actually got serious about finishing it. I have everything planned out (and yes, Loki will be bad-ass!), it's just the writing that's been going slow, but I sincerely hope that since there will only be hopefully 3 or 4 chapters left to go that it will be finished this year, and that you all will still be here when that finally happens. Sorry if the story has started to feel rushed!
> 
> And please leave comments! Comments are to die for!!!! :D  
> Bonus: Pic of their car: http://xyanide-fics.tumblr.com/post/170459345621


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